So Hard to Find
by Sereko
Summary: They have been waiting for her, searching for her, fighting for her...and now the princess has finally found them. What happens when the object of your dreams falls into your lap? Does everything click into place or does everything fall apart?
1. Prologue

**So Hard to Find** by Sereko

This one's a bit lighter than my fanfic 'Affair' and it takes place in present time. It's an alternate reality, first season fic. But it does have the senshi and Queen Beryl. You'll be able to figure it out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. I merely use Naoko Takeuchi's genius as a starting point for my own storytelling.

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**Prologue**

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She had heard the rumors, seen the news reports and felt the tremors of the Earth. They were here. All of them were here.

She had finally found them.

The cool moonlight shown down upon her as she walked along the sidewalk. The golden highlights in her silvery hair were brought forth by its rays. A sweet breeze tousled the long, straight strands that hung freely down her back. She smiled despite herself and a warm sparkle was brought to her eyes. "Finally," she sighed.

Suddenly, a scream erupted from a block away. The blonde spun to it in excitement just as she saw people running away from it in terror. Now was her chance. They would be there to answer that scream. And she would be there to meet them.

* * *

"Mercury! I need that status report!" Sailor Moon shouted as she jumped to the side of an energy blast. The senshi were facing something that called itself Batok. It was about eight feet tall with metallic green body armor covering its entire length. Piercing yellow eyes were set in an engorged, horned head. It had two weapons. The first, which it had demonstrated to the senshi when they first arrived, was a set of spears that ejected from its wrists. They regenerated themselves, too, so that Batok had an endless supply to hurl at his foes. The second, which it seemed more accurate in using, was a streaming energy that it shot from its hands.

The shorthaired senshi that had been called upon ducked behind a tree to type commands on her handheld computer. "All of our energies seem equally affective against him, but none of them hurt him very much. I'll try to find a finite weakness."

"Please do!" shouted Jupiter. She sidestepped around Mars to lunge at Batok's back. With all the fury she had in her, she swiped its legs out from under it and sent a nice, hard punch right into his vulnerable stomach. "Ow!" So much for vulnerable. Her hand throbbed as she pulled away. Batok jumped up quickly, perfectly unaffected by the assault.

"Pathetic!" it screamed with a snarl. "Now be a nice group of weaklings and hand over the crystal!"

"That's what I hate. Why did they have to send one that can actually speak in intelligent sentences?" Venus groaned while sending a crescent beam into the youma's face. "That outta shut you up!"

Moon spun to avoid another spear and threw a pleading look to Tuxedo Kamen who fought a few feet away. "Would you please hit this jerk for me?" She batted her eyes sarcastically. "I would just love to hear him howl at the sting of one of your roses." Moon winked at him before turning back around to face her foe.

"I've never been one to disappoint a lady," the caped man said smoothly. With that, he hurled two roses at the beast. One stuck in its forearm and the other managed to pierce its eye.

There was a loud, very girlish sounding squeal. "Grr! Who dared to do that?!" the thundering voice didn't quite have the same affect after its weak yelp.

"I believe that was me. Would you like another dose?" Kamen smiled slyly. Oh, it was always so much fun to toy with the hopeless ones. He turned to his girls. Yes, he smiled slyly again, he did consider them his girls. He felt like a man with a harem. And in just the same way, they were the ones that held the power and the ones that did all the work. He was merely lucky enough to have a few supernatural tricks of his own; otherwise he would be standing on the sidelines like every other male in the world.

He was glad he could help, even in his small way. The senshi gave him a purpose. When he awoke in the morning, he wasn't just another boring college student. He was a hero. Well, a sidekick. But he had the chance to fight with heroines and make a positive change in the world. His eyes affectionately roamed over the five girls. Each one was so unique, so special. He hoped they knew that.

No matter what quests they were on – to find a princess, to find a crystal – they were the ones that did all the dirty work. They were the ones that had to wake up in the early hours of the morning or skip out on dinner at least three times a week.

The crystal was special. The princess was special. Of anyone, he knew that the best. But he sincerely hoped that they didn't think either of those things was more important than themselves. They were just as priceless as their goals.

"What do you think, girls? Has he been a good boy? Does he deserve another round?" He saw Mars smile brightly.

"Oh, yes. I daresay he's been too good of a boy. I think he should get some fire with his flowers." Sarcasm was way too much fun sometimes. "After you, mon ami." She swept her arms out to give him the right-of-way. Without anymore preamble, Kamen twirled his fingers to generate four new roses that rested between his fingers. He threw them with deadly accuracy as Mars' fire chased after them.

Though pain was inflicted, the youma still did not turn to ashes. Mercury furiously typed in a few more codes. Her computer beeped eagerly. "Yes! I've got it guys!" She came out from around the tree to engage in battle once more. "Its lower back doesn't have as thick a body armor as the rest of his body. Hit him there!"

A few minutes later, the six of them were standing in a circle around a pile of dust. "Well, that was fun. I think we should do this again sometime, ladies." Kamen tipped his hat and turned to leave. He was stopped by the sight of something altogether ethereal. There, in front of him, stood a young woman who looked very familiar. He couldn't place where he'd seen her, but he knew he had.

"Please," she implored. "Please, do not leave just yet."

He paused out of curiosity.

Behind him, the senshi were wrapping up their report to Luna and Artemis. The two felines had bounded out from behind the bushes when the fight ended. None of them noticed the new visitor walk up. "All right," Luna concluded, "sounds like a job well done. You girls are increasing in talent every time you fight."

Jupiter scoffed, "Did I just hear a compliment come out of Luna's mouth?" The other senshi giggled.

"All right, all right. Enough. It's time to go home and get to dinner before your parents begin to worry." She rubbed Moon's leg as she passed her on their way home.

"Luna?! Luna! Is that really you?"

The black cat whirled around. For the first time she noticed the slim figure standing with Tuxedo Kamen. She pranced forward. Jumping up on Kamen's shoulder, she nuzzled her head against his neck and mewed. She would pretend that she was an ordinary cat until she was sure this girl could be trusted. Kamen scratched her chin and she didn't have to pretend to purr at the affection.

The silver-haired one looked at her in amazement. Her light grey-blue eyes were as wide as saucers. "Oh," she crooned. "I knew I would find the senshi, but I didn't know that I would also find you!" She reached out with her arms and petted the spot between the cat's ears.

Luna had stiffened at the mention of the senshi, but she began to relax under the girl's familiar touch. However, when two hands came under her belly and tried to pick her up, she wasn't nearly as relaxed. A violent hiss escaped her mouth. She dug her claws into Kamen's lapels in order to stay firmly planted on his shoulders.

"Luna? What is wrong?" She tried to reach out again and was met with another hiss. "Do you not remember me? If you did, you'd know that I would never hurt you," her tone was soft and confused. Luna didn't respond to her questions. "You can trust me," she said earnestly. "Why won't you speak to me?"

The cat stared searchingly at the figure before her. It was a well-known fact that Luna rarely trusted anyone that she didn't know very, very well. It had taken her six months to trust Tuxedo Kamen. The fact that the girl knew of the senshi and that she could speak was a little more than unsettling. On the other hand, there was a nagging feeling in the back of Luna's mind that told her she knew the girl. She opened her mouth to say something when she heard Sailor Moon softly call her name. Turning her head, she noted that the senshi were all standing right behind Tuxedo Kamen.

"It seems that this girl knows us. But I have no recollection of her myself."

"So you do not remember me, then." The stranger soundly positively defeated. "You were my mother's advisor along with Artemis," she glanced down at the white cat, "for twenty years and you do not remember me."

It took a few moments for the information to process, and then connections began to be made. The familiar feeling they were all being affected by had been faint because she was from their past lives. But it was still familiar because they had known her closely once.

She was their princess.

All of their eyes suddenly jumped out of their sockets. They had spent nearly a year fighting to find her and instead she had found them.

Sailor Moon had lightly rested her hand on Kamen's shoulder when she called Luna's name, but now it fell like a rock to her side. His princess. _Their_ princess. "It…It's you!" Moon stepped forward and brushed her hand across the girl's forehead. The movement shoved aside bangs to reveal a crescent moon mark that had just flared at the declaration. "Our princess! It's really you!" In normal, enthusiastic Usagi-fashion, Moon jumped forward and embraced the princess in a tight hug. "Oh! We have been looking everywhere for you!"

She was politely pushed away. "I am sorry to say that I do not remember a senshi of the Moon. I do, however, remember all of you!" She turned in excitement to be eagerly greeted by the rest of the senshi, the cats and Tuxedo Kamen. Moon was easily forgotten. She took a step back as everyone formed a circle around the newcomer.

So this was how it was going to be.

She sighed.


	2. Chapter 1

**So Hard to Find** by Sereko

All right, this is a bit shorter than what I had hoped for...but I reached such a beautifully natural cliff-hanger that I just had to stop the chapter. You'll forgive me, right? Well, even if you don't, I think you shall greatly enjoy this chapter. *Pats herself on the back* I did a good job, if I do say so myself.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, but Belle is very much my own creation.

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**Chapter 1**

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Her name was Princess Illesande. Isabella in the present. Belle for short. She was beautiful, about Sailor Moon's height with almond-shaped eyes and a river of silvery hair that reached to her thighs. She was elegant, with educated speech and graceful movements. She was commanding, a born leader.

She was a princess.

She was _the_ princess and the sooner he got that through his head the better. When he had first heard Sailor Moon's revelation, he didn't believe it. Yes she seemed familiar, but not in the I've-been-in-your-dreams-for-as-long-as-you-can-remember kind of way. Her hair wasn't as golden, her eyes not as blue as he had expected. She didn't have the same warmth about her that she did in his subconscious.

Stop fighting it, he told himself.

She wasn't what he had expected, because he had stopped expecting her. He had spent almost a year fighting evil alongside the senshi, alongside Sailor Moon. He had given up hope during all that time that he would ever manage to find the princess of his dreams. He, instead, had let the tingle of feelings he held for Sailor Moon grow and prosper. There was no physical princess in his way to prevent him from pursuing something with the heroine, so why not?

He had started by staying after battles; he didn't run away anymore. Then he actually began to jump in and fight instead of just waiting for the moment when Sailor Moon needed him. The other senshi slowly began to trust him because of his less aloof appearances. Now they saw him as another comrade, not a stranger.

Working his way into the senshi group took time and patience, but he didn't mind. He did it for Sailor Moon. He knew it was important to her that the other senshi trusted him as one of their own – it was important to him, as well. And hell, it meant that he was able to spend more than a few seconds standing next to her.

But now there was the princess.

Mamoru shook his head. He felt torn. On the one hand, he had come to care for Sailor Moon and on the other hand, he had been waiting his entire life for the princess. He had built great purpose around finding Isabella. It was the center of his life and behind most of his decisions. How could he forget about her in lieu of his perky blonde?

He couldn't, he solemnly decided.

* * *

There had been a discussion about where she would stay. She had no living parents in this lifetime, which didn't bother her since she remembered her family from the Silver Millennium so well. The government cared for her and educated her in the form of orphanages and foster care until she was sixteen and deemed able to live on her own. She had spent most of her life remembering what once was and trying to come in contact with her senshi and others from that time. For the past year she had been searching from country to country, town to town, and she finally found her court in Tokyo. It wasn't hard to find them once she had entered Japan. There were news reports at least every day, almost everywhere in the country, about their exploits.

It was eventually decided - after the awe of her presence had worn off - that living with Makoto would probably be the best solution. Makoto didn't mind turning her one bedroom apartment into a double to accommodate her princess.

The next step had been securing an education. Belle would enlist at Juuban High to join the rest of them the following day. The senshi had already de-transformed and shown her their true forms, so there wouldn't be any confusion.

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Algebra. Creative Writing. Art. Chemistry. English. Physical Education. Those were her classes. She shared the first two with Usagi and Ami, and then she was alone until chemistry, which she shared with Minako. All three of the senshi plus Makoto joined her for sixth period P.E.

They were playing volleyball today. Minako needed no prompting to show off her talents at the sport. She was on the school's varsity team and that information led her opposing team in P.E. to give up before the game had even started. Belle had fun learning things like that about her senshi. True, she knew almost everything about them in their past lives, however, she knew next to nothing about their lives in present day. She was determined to find out as much as humanly possible.

In the same way, the senshi were determined to find out about the Silver Millennium. Belle smiled. It was odd that she was able to retain most of her memories and they weren't. She was very reluctant to tell them that she, too, had some holes in her memory because the girls were so excited by what she *did* know. Even when she managed to tell them, they hadn't seemed the least bit deterred. They had yet to ask a question that she did not know that answer to. Well, that wasn't completely true. They had asked one question that she had no idea about.

Who had Usagi been?

The others assumed, since Belle had not known the answer and she knew most of everything of their past, that Usagi was just a commoner. The princess had never met her. Luna came up with the theory that when reincarnated, Sailor Moon was created as a replacement until the princess claimed her position as leader. It was either that or the queen knew that another senshi would be needed to fight the powers of darkness in the future and made sure that another was created after she died. The verdict was still up on which theory was correct.

Belle glanced over at the blonde. The girl unsettled her. Every time she was near her or looked at her, a strange chill ran up her spine. She couldn't explain it and since she wasn't a very big fan of the unexplainable, she kept as much distance as she could from Usagi – both physically and emotionally.

* * *

She felt like a diseased child. Plague, here! She's got the plague! Get quarantine on the job, stat! For some reason Belle would never venture within ten feet of her and, consequently, the other entranced senshi stayed just as far away.

Usagi rubbed her forehead.

School had passed by as usual. Well, except for the fact that she didn't get detention. She slept like a log the night before, but since the battle had been so early in the evening, she hadn't been too tired to wake up and get to school on time – of course, that didn't keep her from waiting until the last second and sprinting to class. So now, she was wandering down the sidewalk with her friends and princess. Destination: Crown Arcade.

As the girls continued to walk ahead of her, she let a small smile flash across her face. A little Sailor V was just what she needed to relieve some stress.

Someone poked her from behind. The other girls did not notice and continued on into Motoki's paradise without their former leader.

"How's it going, Odango?"

Usagi twirled around, a ready retort at the tip of her tongue. The retort never came. She floundered as she stared at her nemesis and was unable to stutter more than a few grunts. Her body sagged in defeat. The new stresses of her life were now affecting her daily rituals. She could've pouted.

Instead of being met with an enthusiastically spouted insult from the man before her, silence permeated the air. The blonde thanked her lucky stars and then fell back into her dry and disgruntled attitude. "What? Cat got your tongue, baka?" said her sarcasm.

Without warning and coming completely out of nowhere, Usagi's supposed archenemy fiercely grabbed her chin. There was a look in his eyes that startled the girl. She could've sworn it was concern.

"What happened, Odango?"

An eyebrow lifted in confusion. "Happened? Nothing happened."

"Then what is wrong?" he insisted.

Usagi threw her arms up in exasperation, though it made a funny sight since Mamoru still clutched her chin in his hand. "What are you going on about?" she demanded.

Azure eyes narrowed sharply. "What happened to you?" he demanded right back.

"I have no idea what you are talking about!" she exploded. What was with this man? He was delusional at best, she was sure. Since when did he care, anyway? There was nothing wrong with her. She was perfectly fi-…Usagi stood stone still. The pad of Mamoru's thumb had slipped to a spot very near where her jaw line met her earlobe. He had found a tearstain left over from P.E. and was rubbing it off of her face.

"I am talking about this," he whispered.

* * *

"You will love the milkshakes here, Belle. They are the best in the city!" exclaimed Minako. As usual, the girls were sitting in a booth waiting for Motoki to saunter over and take their order. Rei had been there when they arrived and was already delving into some fries.

A few schoolboys in the corner were eying the princess with a certain twinkle in their gaze. This caused Makoto to send them a well-practiced death glare. Immediately they turned and seemed to become peculiarly interested in the arcade game next to them. The owner of the arcade and parlor saw this and laughed as he walked over to join the girls.

"What can I get you girls today?" he said as he pulled out a pen and pad.

Ami smiled politely at the young man while ordering. Once the others ran off what they would like as well, she gestured to the newcomer. "Motoki-san, I would like to introduce you to Isabella. She is new here in town."

The blonde smiled and bowed in greeting. "It's nice to meet you. I was wondering who the new eye-catcher was." He winked. "These four here already draw most of the male attention around this place. However, when you walked in with them today, I don't think a single man wasn't drooling."

Isabella blushed becomingly. "You are too kind, sir."

Once Motoki walked off to retrieve their orders, Makoto gave her a nudge in the side. "Now you know the real reason why Minako thinks Crown milkshakes are the best. She gets to stare at him while she drinks them," the brunette finished with a laugh.

"I'm not the only one," Minako glowered. "I have it on very good authority that you daydream about him in class."

"I do not!" came a flushed retort. The two girls took no time in getting into a full-fledged argument over the issue.

Ami and Rei leaned toward their princess and away from the spittle flying out of the yelling girls' mouths. Simultaneously they whispered in Belle's ears, "Not again." To this, the monarch giggled thoroughly – something she had found herself doing a lot of in the past two days. Her senshi were so much more fun and energetic in this life, she mused. Vague memories of them from before flittered across her mind. They were never quite as close then as they were becoming now. Something drew on their attention other than her a thousand years ago. A fog settled over her before she could determine what had divided their time. She was unable to be rid of it by shaking her head and that bothered her greatly.

When her eyes drifted to glance out the sliding glass of the arcade doors, everything inside of her suddenly came to focus. The other members of her group turned to look as well after they heard her inhale sharply.

A smile swallowed her up as she stood abruptly. While she proceeded to the doors, she was unaware of the shock she was leaving in her wake.

Just this once, Ami's eyes were filled with grave curiosity instead of understanding. Her mouth bobbed open and shut like a floundering fish. Minako and Makoto had frozen in their fight and were in similar states of disbelief. Rei had promptly fainted, her head landing soundly on the coffee table.

For all intents and purposes, it looked as though Chiba Mamoru was about to kiss his self-proclaimed nemesis Tsukino Usagi.

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It was almost a sure thing that had they been given a few more moments alone, Mamoru and Usagi would have acted on their primal attractions to each other. They would have kissed. The earth would have shuddered and the sky would have sung from it. The universe would have finally locked into place and made some sense to the scientists who studied it. But they were not given those few moments; they were interrupted.

A girl had gripped Mamoru's arm while throwing her own around his neck. The momentum in her movements had him reeling a step back from the blonde odango. Initially, he hadn't been aware of her presence out of the corner of his eye. All he had noticed was that when she came into Usagi's view, the hand that Usagi had previously slipped onto his hip had tightened.

The meaning of that gesture was soon to be lost in the millions of words that Belle threw at him. "Hold it! Hold it!" he yelled defensively while his hands moved to push her away. "Who the hell are you and what are you babbling on about?!"

A silver head pulled away from his chest. The first thing that registered in his mind was that she wore her hair in the same style as Usagi. The silvery thing frowned up at him. "I am Belle!" Though he did not recognize the name, he did recognize the faint shimmer that hovered around her person.

"Princess?!"

She frowned at him once more. "Yes. You know, it is not very nice for everyone to continuously act like they do not know me," she murmured to deaf ears. Mamoru had reached up and squeezed one of the balls on the top of her head.

"Now I have two Odango Atamas," he winked at Usagi before he noted her unease.

"Excuse me!" Woops, he had made the silvery thing mad again. "It is very discourteous to insult me in such a way – and about the royal hairstyle, no less!"

The second exclamation had the masked defender raising a brow. "Royal hairstyle?" His gaze again drew to Usagi. "Is that what you have been up to all this time? You have been attempting to turn yourself into royalty?"

Usagi wasn't given any time to retort or feel hurt before a herd of senshi came barreling out of the arcade. They all seemed relieved to hear Mamoru's insult, but she had no idea why.

"Belle! What was the meaning of that?!" Rei screamed. "Do you know Mamoru?" The question had everyone turning to stare at Belle.

The attention was a bit unnerving for her. "Of course I know him." She found that the eyebrows that rose were even more unnerving. "He's Endymion." Since no one responding to that declaration, she continued, "Are you telling me that none of you know who Endymion is?"

"Sorry, princess, but no," this came from Mamoru.

Everyone present, except Belle, shot their concentration to the young man. With her infamous temper springing up, Rei was the first to bellow, "How do you know about the princess?!"

Mamoru suddenly realized his mistake and shrunk back. "Well, um…you see…"

It was an uncomfortable while before Belle jumped to his defense, unknowingly. "Why wouldn't he know me? He's Endy!" As she shouted this, her hand slipped through the man's arm.

Eyes widened in fear. Makoto was quick to pull her princess away from Mamoru. She vehemently whispered in her ear, "You mustn't be so cavalier with whom you talk to. No one knows that we are the Sailor Senshi. We would like to keep it a secret."

"But Endy already knows who you are. You were fighting with him just last night. I admit that I didn't know it was him then because of his mask, but it is very obvious now."

Makoto started to stumble shakily away.

The other girls called out in concern. They watched as she began to lift her finger to point at Mamoru. Her mouth couldn't move enough to tell them what had frightened her so.

Belle was greatly confused by this. She laid a hand on the senshi's arm. Then, speaking loudly enough for all present to hear, she questioned, "Are you telling me that despite the fact that night after night you fight alongside each other, you do not know that Endy is Tuxedo Kamen nor does he know that you are the Sailor Senshi?"

Time momentarily stopped for the six stunned people on the sidewalk.

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_See? Now you know why I just had to end it there! ;) I sincerely hope that you all enjoyed the second installment of my new, fun, little fic._


	3. Chapter 2

**So Hard to Find **by Sereko

I've had a lot of reviewers ask me about Belle and if she's the real princess, etc. All I have to say is: Stay tuned! All will be revealed in time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, but Belle is very much my own creation.

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**Chapter 2**

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Usagi stared dully ahead of her. The princess's revelation had been quite a shock and her system was still feeling the effects. She vividly remembered the look Mamoru had given her on the sidewalk. He had stripped her down in a matter of seconds, boring his eyes past her magical illusion and finally seeing her for the senshi she was.

His stance betrayed his disbelief just as his steady walk towards her had betrayed his deep desire for the news to be true. "Odango?" he whispered reverently as his hand rose to her cheek for the second time that day.

She was confused by his happiness, but did not pull away from his touch. Luckily for her, the other senshi were slightly preoccupied with each other and with the princess. After their initial outcry towards Mamoru, they had diverted their attention from him. Well, most of their attention anyway…

"You're Tuxedo Kamen?" Her tone was low so that the passers-by could not pry.

His eyes held enough emotion in them that he didn't have to nod his head in affirmation. "And you're Sailor Moon."

"I can't believe…I mean…of all people," Usagi stuttered helplessly, finally shrugging her shoulders for lack of anything better to do.

The man's next words were what had caused the heroine to fall into a lifeless stupor. The stupor that had left her in her place even as Mamoru was pulled away by the senshi for interrogation purposes. It was just two simple words. They held acceptance in them, however, and Usagi had been craving that from him for a very long time.

"I'm glad."

* * *

Tentatively, everyone gathered together in the café for explanations. They had temporarily gotten over their previous shock – enough so that they could converse with one another and find some answers.

"Who is Endymion?"

"Why the Prince of Earth, of course," Belle said surprised that they didn't know. Then she shook her head. "I am sorry. I continuously forget that none of you remember the past. You must be patient with me," her apology slipped past her lips while she bowed her head.

"Of course we will be patient, princess," said a sympathetic Makoto.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it," Minako's voice piped up as she nudged Belle and sent her a wink.

The princess blushed becomingly. All the men in the arcade swooned because of it.

"As you were saying…" Rei prodded.

"Yes, yes. Endymion was the Prince of Earth. If there is one thing you must know about the past it is that the Earth did not get along with any of the other planets. It was riddled with dark powers that scared the rest of the solar system from attempting any treaties of any kind with it. When the darkness grew, the members of Earth pleaded with the Moon, the head of the Silver Alliance that was a council of all the system's planets, to form a treaty with them. They needed outside help to keep their citizens from corruption," the princess stopped her account and took a sip of her water to soothe her drying throat.

She raised her head to stare into Mamoru's eyes as she explained the next part. "The Moon agreed. We thought we would be strong enough to fight back the darkness and keep harm from the rest of the system. To strengthen the military treaty, the royal families of each party decided to join their two children in matrimony." Belle had to keep herself from laughing at the disbelieved gasps that echoed around her. She rested a placating hand upon Minako's wrist.

"It was commonplace back then to use marriage as a form of business merger. In fact, people rarely married for love." The silver-haired girl was unable to keep back a chuckle as her idealistic senshi continued to stare at her in shock. "Anyway," she drawled. "The royalty of Earth offered up their son, Endymion. He was their only child, so there really was no choice in the matter."

"The Moon offered…" her voice trailed off. For some reason she had reached a block in her memory. There was a haze settled around the piece of information she wanted and she was unable to sift through it. Belle squinted her eyes and tried with more determination to push past the fog.

"You," Mamoru's statement startled her out of her concentration.

Once she processed what Mamoru was saying, she started to slowly and unsurely nod her head. She looked once more in her mind for anything that would tell her what she needed to know. A vision rose up to meet her. It was a picture of Prince Endymion standing in front of a garden fountain. Within his arms rested a slender girl in Lunarian clothes. Her hair was wound up into two tight balls from which fell two brilliantly long streams. The royal hairstyle.

* * *

_"I told you that everything would work out, did I not?" his baritone held the tone of an instructor. _

_Her eyes paled in the earthlight as she gazed up at him. "Yes, you did," she whispered. _

"_And everything did work out, did it not?"_

_She reluctantly nodded the affirmative, already knowing where he was leading the conversation. "Yes, it did."_

_His gentle touch on her chin sent a shock down her spine. After so many days and so many touches, she was surprised that he could still affect her so strongly. "Then why do you not believe that I am correct this time around, as well?" he asked with an earnestness that was eager to shake her stubbornness. _

"_Because, Endy…" her whisper failed to continue. The cool breeze of night brushed by and kicked up the ends of her skirts. A slight flush came to her cheeks at the cold. _

_The black-haired prince lowered his head seductively. "Enough of this, my love," he crooned so that his breath tickled her skin. In one last movement he slipped down to capture her lips in a tender kiss. She was hell-bent on stealing her resolve against him, but failed miserably and crumbled beneath him instead. Her worry would have to wait for a few more minutes. _

* * *

Belle shook herself from her daze. Rich, sapphire eyes pierced into her view. They were so sure of what they had just assumed. The princess nodded her head more firmly. "Yes. The Moon Kingdom offered me." She frowned only once more before settling into the news as if she had always known.

Mamoru reached forward tentatively and clasped the royal's hand. She squeezed it affectionately. "I, Princess Illesande, was engaged to you, Prince Endymion."

"I knew it," the young man breathed.

All of the senshi had been told about his recurring dreams of the princess. It was a part of his 'initiation' that he told them of his purpose behind interfering in the battles. He looked around the table in a quick sweep and noted the happy smiles that the girls held for him. He had finally found his princess and it was time he told her.

"I have dreamed of your image for as long as I can remember. I could tell by the feelings of my dreams that we were close, very close." There was a slight hesitation before he spat out his next words. "I just knew that we…cared about one another." He had meant to say that he knew they were in love, but the words wouldn't move pass the block in his throat. Mamoru mentally berated himself. Why was he unable to admit to her what he had admitted to himself night after night? Was it because he still had that uneasy feeling in the pit of this stomach? Something, that for some reason, cried out desperately that something was wrong.

His gaze flickered over to Usagi. She was the only one not looking upon the scene with a smile of happiness gracing her pink lips. Her attention was focused at some point outside the window next to her. As his eyes fell, Mamoru was surprised to see that the hand that the blonde rested on the booth's table was fisted tightly.

He immediately went to reach out for her until he felt that his hand was already caught within another's. Isabella's.

Mamoru blinked harshly. How could he so easily forget? His princess was with him now. He had to give up his heroine. His Odango.

* * *

Needless to say, the next few days were tense amongst the group.

The senshi retained their distance from Usagi by taking the princess out to the mall or to the park or over to one of the girls' homes for a sleepover. That is not to say that Usagi wasn't invited to such events. She was still a comrade after all. However, if ever Usagi were to accept an offer to go out with the girls, she would be met with indifference over the matter. What's worse, the blonde was mostly ignored during any and all interactions with her friends. It seemed as if Minako at least tried to integrate her into conversations, but the other senshi never picked up her attempts and Usagi was thrown to the outside once more.

Usagi oftentimes found herself smiling at the sight of her house, a move that was quickly followed by a violent shudder. 'The day that I actually enjoy running into my twerp for a brother and my mother's angry spatula is the day that I need some serious psychiatric help.'

Her sleeping became restless for reasons not completely known to her. Usagi assumed that all the new changes in her life were simply taking over, leaving no time for silly little things like rest. She could rarely sleep in past six in the morning – a fact that scared her as much as it scared her family. Though she missed her bed and the comfort it used to lend her, Usagi found that the mornings were a surprisingly nice time to be out. Since she didn't have to worry about running to class, she was actually able to enjoy the quirks of a waking Tokyo.

It didn't take her long to realize that she still ran into Mamoru every morning, even though she wasn't in a rush and crashing into him. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought that the man keep an eye out for her to ensure that he saw her in the early hours.

One morning, in particular, she would never forget, for Mamoru had been flustered. Had she but a camera to take a picture of the moment.

…

He had come at her jogging as if to catch up to her. "Odango!"

"Mamoru-baka. Nice to see _you_ running for a change," she bit.

Then, she nearly fell flat on her face. The man had smirked at her. One thing that was universally known was that whenever Mamoru smirked, the angels of beauty visited him and he became the most devastatingly handsome man within a twelve-block radius. Stealing her resolve as she always did for defense, Usagi managed to keep herself once more from showing any outward sign of attraction. She may have bickered with the man every day for the past year or so, but that didn't mean that she hated him. And it certainly didn't mean that she was blind and couldn't see that he was positively gorgeous.

"You're early," he simply replied.

Usagi quirked an eyebrow. "Am I? Well I've been trying to give this whole responsibility thing a whirl. So far it seems a bit dull. How do you do it all the time, baka?"

The man in question put a hand on his hip - another incredibly sexy gesture for those who didn't know. "It's hard I assure you. I'm not sure if you're up to the task."

After fighting for so long, Usagi knew how to get out of being cornered by an insult. "How exactly do you know that I am early, Mamoru?" As she said this, the leader of the Sailor Senshi sensuously swayed her hips towards the man before her. Once in front of him, she dragged an index finger along his jaw line and tapped it against his chin. "Do you keep watch on me?"

Picture moment number one ensues…

It was hard enough to concentrate on keeping a cocky and stony exterior when she was slithering up to him, but it became even harder when her questions registered in his mind. How exactly was he supposed to explain that he had his mornings clocked to the moment that he ran into her?

"Well…you see…" Good lord, now he was fumbling. What was this woman doing to him?

…

Ah, yes, that had been a great moment in her life. Afterwards, her sparring with Mamoru became more a friendly and intelligent game than the immature banter it had started out as. And since Usagi was now waking up at around six in the morning on a daily basis, she began to pass the time at the Crown Arcade. Technically, the arcade and the café attached to it didn't open until 7:00, but Motoki was nice enough to let her in while he prepared the store for the day's customers.

"This is a bit early for you, don't you think Odango?" Mamoru asked the first day that she walked into Crown. She knew that her tormentor was aware of her new early morning regime because of her previous encounter with him on the street. This was at least an hour earlier than when that had occurred, however.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't sleep." Motoki ambled over to them and Usagi ordered a hot chocolate.

"No coffee?" Mamoru asked with a raised brow. "And here I thought you were striving for a grasp on maturity."

"Coffee's too bitter," she said succinctly in a way that made him believe she was actually referring to him. But then a small smile graced her lips. "It's nice to be out when the rest of the world is still asleep."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I like walking here from my apartment and watching the fog."

"No cars. No people. No noise," she emphasized the last as if she were relieved. "It's nice."

* * *

She came in the next morning as well.

"Still can't sleep?" Mamoru asked her.

She shook her head. "Nope."

* * *

By the third morning, Mamoru swiveled all the way around on his stool and leaned his elbows back on the counter. He watched with a glint in his eye as she came through the sliding glass doors. "This is becoming serious, Odango. You might need to see a doctor or we'll have you dropping in dead faints during battle."

Usagi's eyes flickered around the room and noted that Motoki was nowhere to be seen. After being assured that Mamoru hadn't just given away the biggest secret in Tokyo, she plopped down beside him. "That won't be a problem. I don't feel tired." She turned to face him. "I can't quite explain it."

"I think I know what you mean." He had been waking up in the middle of every night since he was a child either from nightmares about his parents' death or from visions of his princess. Afterward, he was never able to fall back asleep. His body was perfectly accustomed to only getting four hours of sleep a night.

"I promise to be chipper when the time calls for it. There's no need to worry."

His gaze became deeper, softer and more serious. "But I do worry."

Usagi looked up from the counter startled.

And then it became a ritual. Every morning at 6:30am when Mamoru was making his way through his second cup of coffee, Usagi would wander into the café and ask Motoki for a hot chocolate. Neither talked much. They just had small, simple, quiet conversations with each other. Motoki would join in every now and again when he wasn't setting things up for the day or cleaning in the back. On occasion Usagi would find Mamoru sitting in a booth instead of his usual bar stool and she would slide in across from him without a word. If he brought the morning paper, she would snag the Entertainment section that he had discarded.

There developed a rhythm. The two of them with their steaming drinks, sometimes a muffin or two, the morning paper, silent conversation, Motoki interventions every few minutes and a crisp, breezy fog just outside the window.

* * *

The shock of all shocks came for Mamoru when he found Usagi sitting in the middle of his university library one afternoon. He made a beeline for her through the crowded tables and chairs. Once he was standing next to her table, he waited for her to lift her head and acknowledge him. It took a few moments, but when her eyes shifted as she flipped a page in her book she saw him. "Mamoru!" she exclaimed in shock. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Look who's talking! I'm beginning to seriously believe that you're playing a rather elaborate joke on me, Odango. First the early mornings, now the library. What's next?"

Usagi just smirked and he couldn't help but smirk back. He dropped his bag on the other side of the table and sat down across from her. "So, what are you doing here anyway?"

"I thought I'd see what all the hubbub was about."

"At the university library?"

"Well, if I was going to cave and go to a library, it might as well be the best."

Mamoru nodded. She returned to reading her book and he watched as she did so. He could only stand to give her a few minutes of privacy before he questioned, "Are you going to tell me what brought you here?"

She pretended to look confused. "What?"

"Usagi," he drawled. She hated that he not only knew her well enough to know that something was wrong, but also that he had a way of saying her name that practically forced her to blurt out anything he wanted to know.

"It's nothing," she hedged.

Mamoru reached out over the table and laid a hand over one of her own. "No, that's not it. Try again." He gave her a soft smile.

Usagi dipped her head, partly because of embarrassment and partly because she was afraid she might have been blushing. "It's really nothing, Mamoru. My friends are just going shopping at the mall and I wasn't in the mood."

"Nope, that's not it either." He squeezed her hand slightly. "Odango," he implored.

When had that name become an endearment instead of an insult? Usagi wasn't sure, but she knew that anytime he said it now, her chest tightened. "They did go shopping…"

"But?"

She let out a heavy sigh. Too late now, might as well tell him everything. "But they forgot to invite me."

Mamoru's back straightened. "Forgot to invite you?" he balked and then tried to think rationally. "Maybe they didn't think they had to. You are all practically attached at the hip, maybe they thought that it was implied that you would join them."

"No," she said while shaking her head. "Good try, but no. They left without me. I was talking to Haruna-sensei after class and by the time she was finished with me, they were gone. No note, no call, nothing."

"Usagi," he sighed. "I'm sorry."

He paused a moment before something occurred to him.

"How exactly did this lead to you being at my university library?"

She bent her head again so that he couldn't meet her eyes. "I wanted to be someplace that they couldn't find me…or would never think to look for me. On the off chance that they actually did try to find me, of course," she scoffed. "And…"

When it didn't seem like she was planning on finishing her sentence, Mamoru rubbed his thumb over the back of her knuckles. "And?" he prompted.

This time she did look up and straight into his eyes. "And I thought I might find you here." Mamoru's eyes widened at her admission. She quickly turned her head away, a becoming blush staining her cheeks.

"Well, here I am," he whispered. Now it was Usagi's eyes that widened. She looked at him in disbelief. It took a few moments for her heart to start beating again. Her mouth opened as if she was going to respond and that was when her communicator started to beep.

She didn't answer it immediately; instead she glanced at her companion and said reluctantly, "Duty calls."

"So it does," he said while pulling his hand away from her and standing up. He grabbed his bag and turned to her. "Shall we?"

Usagi shook herself out of her stupor and grabbed her own bag. As she stood, she flipped open her communicator and began to quiz Rei on location and stats. The two walked quietly out of the library together. He subtly rested his hand on the small of her back so that he could guide her along as she looked down at Sailor Mars' face.


	4. Chapter 3

**So Hard to Find **by Sereko

Wahoo! I'm back! Let me start by saying that 2008 was evil and I'd like to strike it from the record of my life. L I did get some good writing done during that Year That Shall Not Be Named, though you'll undoubtedly notice a solemn twinge to a lot of it. As is my style, I was writing bits and pieces all over this story and it took me a while to finally compose the next two full chapters. I'm happy to finally have something to post again and something to make you readers out there smile! Thanks so much to all of you who kept encouraging me even while I was absent for so long. Your words meant a lot!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, but Belle is very much my own creation.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

It was Ami that made the first call to Mars, who then forwarded the message to the rest of the senshi. She had been walking along the sidewalk with the princess on their way to Makoto's house when they noticed the disturbance. As usual, a large and hideously ugly creature was terrorizing a local store and sucking the energy from all of its patrons.

Ami hid Belle in a nearby alley and told her to stay put before she transformed. Sailor Mercury was on the scene with a gust of fog in no time. The remaining citizens managed to flee through the haze before it evaporated. When one of the people fled past Belle's alcove, she edged towards the mouth of the alley to get a peak at the action.

A few minutes later, some fire and electricity joined the party. "What's the status, Mercury?" called a panting Jupiter.

Mercury clicked a few more buttons on her computer before looking at her colleague through her blue visor. "It was considerate enough to explain to me that its name is Hydra and that it is here to suck me dry, so don't worry about being subjected to its speech. Otherwise, I've already determined that it's a water-based demon because my attacks have no affect. That means that it's your turn to play, Jupiter."

The green senshi let loose a brilliant smile and a thumbs up right before shocking the youma. Hydra cackled while jumping out of the way. "You are going to have to do better than that. Let me show you what you face."

Before Jupiter could throw in her own witty remark or Mars could interject something, Hydra had disappeared. The three senshi looked around them in moderate panic. "Where is it?!"

A collection of water streamed together behind Mars. A second later, the water formed the shape of a body and solidified into Hydra. The youma had Mars enveloped in a backbreaking hug from behind in record time. The fire senshi screeched, which caused the other two to turn their heads.

"Mars!"

The shout came from further down the street where Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus could be seen running forward. Mercury debriefed them quickly as they stared wide-eyed at their fellow fighter. Belle moved further out of the alleyway to get a better look. She was shocked to see her senshi in such a compromising position and stepped forward unconsciously.

A hand on her hip stopped her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Belle's initial reaction was to turn and scream and she would have followed her instincts had the stranger not put his other hand over her mouth. A whisper slipped into her ear soon afterward, "It is just me, princess. Tuxedo Kamen." He turned her around so that she could see for herself and her body sagged in relief.

"Thank God. You must go help the others. Mars is being held by that watery thing and they can't get her free." Tuxedo Kamen was already shaking his head at her.

"They can take care of themselves. Right now, I am more worried about keeping you safe and that means making sure that you don't leave this spot." Just to be ironic, a shriek came from Mars just as he finished his statement of faith. He turned sharply and saw that Hydra had morphed back into a blob of water and was surrounding Mars' entire body. If she kept it up, she would drown the fire senshi.

"Mars!" Moon called desperately. She looked at Mercury. "Is there anyway that Jupiter can shock it without electrocuting Mars?"

Mercury was unsure. There was a chance that if Jupiter toned her attack down just enough then she could force Hydra to collapse into a puddle on the ground without injuring Mars, but that was only a chance. Venus circled her ensconced friend carefully, looking for any weakness or opening. "Sailor Moon!" she called. Her leader turned to look at her expectantly. "Is there any way that you can temper Jupiter's attack so that she won't hurt Mars?"

Moon wracked her brain. There were still several things she didn't know or fully understand about her powers. Most of the time she had to feel her way around with instincts. She was brought back to attention when she heard a moan come from the fire senshi. She was running out of oxygen. Moon chose to make an executive decision. "I'll try. Come here, Jupiter!"

The senshi in question immediately went to stand in front of Sailor Moon. She faced away from the other girl so that she could fire her attack at Hydra. Moon moved to stand behind her and placed her hands on Jupiter's shoulders. She closed her eyes to concentrate and clenched her hands to ground her friend. "NOW!" she ordered.

Jupiter wasted no time in firing off a powerful lightning strike. She felt Moon tense exponentially behind her. The hold she had on Jupiter's shoulders became almost crushing. It was a strange feeling for the brunette, to have her power molded and changed by someone else, especially since it was still flowing through her body. It was also strange to feel what one of her fellow senshi's powers felt like. She had always assumed that the feeling reflected the power…hers was prickling and energized as she assumed lightning would be, she always thought Mars's would be hot and dry, Mercury's cool and moist and Venus's searing and bright.

Jupiter, as well as the other girls, never really knew what Moon experienced since her power wasn't centered on an element. But now she understood. She could feel the great rush of energy that was her friend. The power seemed to flood into her, filling her every pore. It was almost too much, like it had a mind of its own and wanted to escape the confines of her body. Jupiter couldn't reel it in like she could her lightning. Initially, she thought that was just because it wasn't her power and she had no control over it. However, she was quick to realize that Moon was using the majority of her energy to simply keep the power in check.

When it was over, she saw Mars fall gratefully to the ground, sucking in air like it was going out of style. The other senshi rushed to their friend, ignoring the stain on the asphalt that marked Hydra's passing. Jupiter stepped forward to join them. As she did, she felt Moon fall forward with her. She turned with Moon's hands still clasped on her shoulders. "Usagi-chan?"

Sailor Moon's eyes were closed tightly and her body tense. Her eyelids slowly opened and Jupiter gasped at what she saw. Her leader's eyes had turned solid silver. Moon blinked once, then twice, and her normal blues eventually replaced the previous metallic sheen. "Usagi?" Jupiter asked again while de-transforming.

The blonde took a moment to retract her hands from her friend and to firmly plant her feet before de-transforming as well. Since some of Moon's power was still left in her system, Makoto was a hitchhiker of sorts through the transformation. She felt the giant wave that had flooded her system implode in on itself. Every scrap of energy was sucked dry until the wave pooled itself together and fled Makoto's body in one large rush. The green senshi stumbled from the sensation, loosing her footing enough that she had to fall to one knee.

She looked in shock at Usagi who was still standing, but weaving in place. Her friend gazed down to meet her eyes. "Is it like that every time?" Makoto asked in disbelief. She couldn't imagine how Usagi could move or function after such a draining experience. She, herself, felt minor energy loss when she de-transformed, which was to be expected. But what she just sensed from Sailor Moon was more than just energy loss. It was like her life force had just been depleted.

Usagi nodded solemnly. "It was worse today because I was doing something so taxing to begin with." Then, she shrugged off her friend's concern with a chirpy smile, "Why do you guys think I sleep so much?"

Makoto smiled guiltily. She knew that it must have been hard to take control of her lightning and then adjust it so that Mars wouldn't be affected. She looked at her leader with newfound respect. "I don't know how you do it, Usagi-chan. I feel like I should go to the hospital right now and I only had a taste of your power."

"You get used to it," was the only response. Usagi started to walk towards their other friends but not before whispering, "You have to," first.

The tall Amazon frowned in concern.

* * *

"Wow," Belle breathed.

Mamoru emerged from the alley where Tuxedo Mask had been a moment before. He looked on at the teenage girls who were crowded around their fallen comrade. "Impressive, aren't they?"

Belle turned to him. "I've seen things on the news, but…"

"That's nothing to seeing it in person?"

She adamantly shook her head. "It's not even close. I could feel the power from all the way over here. It's mind-blowing."

"That feeling never goes away. Believe me," he said with a rueful smile.

"They're amazing."

Mamoru simply nodded. He prodded her back so that she moved forward. "Let's go check on Rei. Then maybe we can grab a cup of coffee." She followed his direction, but not before slipping her hand into his.

"That sounds great, Endy," she smiled up at him.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Mamoru-chan," he corrected.

She blushed and the two continued on towards the five warriors.

* * *

"Another failed attempt!" Zoicite screamed as he paced around his bedroom. He threw the pillow he was holding roughly onto his bed. "I almost had that little fire brat, too! A few more minutes and she would've been done for, but noooo…instead that pest Sailor Moon had to intervene."

He felt a presence behind him and spun around a moment before Kunzite laid a hand on his shoulder. "Shh, Zoi," he whispered while massaging the younger man's neck. "All in good time."

The soothing motion of Kunzite's hand as well as his calm voice succeeded in their purpose. Zoicite began to relax. The steam that had been fuming out of his ears disappeared and his bright red face faded. "I'm at the end of my rope, Kunzite," he confessed. "I'm sick and tired of this. I just want them to die so that I can be at peace." His green eyes fell downcast to the floor.

"ZOICITE!" came a loud scream from the throne room.

The man in question looked back up at his lover. "Peace, Kunzite." He cringed when Queen Beryl screamed out for him again.

"I know." Kunzite tenderly pulled Zoicite into his arms. "Soon enough we will be free of her. Soon enough." He ran his hand down the long, slightly curled hair of his companion. "For now, you must see your mistress." Zoicite nodded against him, squeezed him tightly once more, then pulled away and strode from the room.

* * *

Usagi was surprised the next day to be greeted by a smiling, waving Ami in their morning class. "Usagi!" she called out warmly.

The blonde gave a hesitant smile and "Good morning" back before sitting down.

"Where were you yesterday? We were worried about you."

Usagi immediately looked up. "Worried?"

"Yes, of course," Ami said sincerely. "We sent Belle to get you from Haruna's lecture and when she came back, she said that you told her that you would catch up with us later. But, you never did."

"Oh. Right. Sorry about that. I forgot that my mom needed me for something after school," Usagi absentmindedly replied while she wracked her brain to see if she could remember if Belle had ever come to get her. Had she simply not seen the princess? Had she walked right by her and not noticed? Even if she had, she definitely hadn't told Belle anything.

"Well, as long as you're all right." Considering the matter solved, Ami turned around in her seat and started to catch up on Chapter 15 of their textbook. The class was on Chapter 5.

Usagi sat back in her seat and looked out the window. Maybe it had been her fault. Everyone knew that she was absentminded. In any case, Ami had been worried and had wanted to hang out with her the day before. That was all that mattered. She wasn't losing her senshi after all.

* * *

"Usagi! Over here!" The girl in question turned to see Makoto waving her over to a nearby tree. The others were there enjoying lunch in the shade. It had been getting warmer lately as spring faded into summer. Usagi tentatively sat at the edge of their circle. Mere weeks before she would have been at the heart of the group, laughing loudly and making a general fool of herself. Now Belle sat center, prim and proper as a true princess should be.

The girls quickly got to talking and Usagi was surprised when Belle looked up at her with a soft smile. "How is your day?" she asked cautiously.

"Uh… it's… it's all right, I guess," she said at a loss for words. Why was she talking to her? Before today, she'd only spoken to Usagi when absolutely necessary. "And yours?"

Belle suddenly sat up straighter, a wide grin on her face. "You won't believe what Ms. Haruna did today!" As if they were the best of friends, she began an animated tale about the trials and tribulations of their least favorite teacher. During particularly exciting moments, Belle would reach out to grip Usagi and the older girl hated how it made her feel special. The princess didn't hate her after all!

They spent the rest of the lunch break gossiping and chatting like old friends – the senshi occasionally coming in and out of their conversation.

Had she imagined it, then? Everything that happened yesterday with detention and the mall? People always said she was overly emotional. There _was_ a chance that she had just blown things out of proportion.

The lunch bell rang and with a lighter heart then she had had at the start, she stood and joined the rest of the student body back into the school. Belle walked in front of her with an arm looped through Makoto's. Usagi could see how happy the taller girl was. Even Ami was grinning from the other side of Belle. It was clear that the senshi felt honored by their princess's approval. For so long they had been searching for her. After a while, she had become more myth than person, a powerful and untouchable legend. To have her sitting on the grass with them and drooling over Makoto's bento was like waking up to find out that your best friend was a rock star. She was gracing them with her presence and they were licking up every last drop of attention.

Belle turned and gave Usagi a smile as they split up to go to their classes… and Usagi couldn't help the spring in her step as she approached Physics.

* * *

After school, her fifth day in a row of not getting detention, Usagi eagerly headed toward her favorite destination. She felt renewed, lighter and happier than she had in a long time. And she knew just whom she wanted to share it with…

"Usagi!" Motoki said in shock when the sliding glass doors signaled her arrival, sounding as he had the first time that she had ever come in early.

Mamoru turned around on his barstool. He looked at her, saw the brightness in her eyes, the blush on her cheeks and the glow of her skin as if her soul were radiating out of her. He gave her a soft smile that she enthusiastically returned. "You're back," he said. Something in the way he said it told the blonde that he was implying something deeper than just her physical return. Usagi felt a tingle wind up her spine. He could see her happiness, her optimism, her Usagi-ness.

She sat beside him, sipping on the chocolate milkshake that Motoki placed in front of her. "Indeed I am," she said primly. This time, she gave him a soft smile and his face broke out in a wide grin. He was glad that his assumption about her life being back on track was correct. She, too, was happy that her cheery self had returned. Frowns just didn't suit her. "You coming to the senshi meeting tonight?" she asked quietly once Motoki walked into the back for supplies.

"Yup," he nodded. "My first one. Any advice?" He wasn't too worried about that night, in fact he felt honored that they had decided to include him. After all the help he'd given them against the Dark Kingdom, it had taken the acceptance of the princess (and the discovery that he was the prince) for the senshi to truly trust him.

Usagi laughed. "Believe me, you can't do any worse than me. Just don't tell anyone what to do and you'll be fine."

* * *

_AN: So, as you can see, I've upped everyone's powers a bit – particularly Sailor Moon. The idea is that this story veers off during the middle of the First Season. They've all been fighting together as a team for almost an entire year (which if I were to follow the real anime timeline would probably put them somewhere into SuperS) and naturally have a better handle on their powers than they would in the original SM. I'm also exploring something completely new with Sailor Moon, something that will be explained in more depth as the story unfolds. __J_


	5. Chapter 4

**So Hard to Find **by Sereko

Thank you so much for all the great reviews! It feels wonderful to be back! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, but Belle is very much my own creation.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**

* * *

**

That night, just after dinner as the sun was falling, the senshi all gathered in Rei's guest room. Well, almost all the senshi. Usagi was late as usual. Dinner had run long because her mother had made a special dessert in honor of her dad getting a raise at work. She sprinted down the streets and turned the corner to begin the long hike up the shrine steps when she spotted Mamoru climbing them ahead of her.

"Mamoru-san!" she called in greeting.

He turned, gave her a little wave and waited for her to catch up to him. "Late?" he said with a smirk.

She didn't respond, just stuck out her tongue, then hunched over to catch her breath. "Damn these stairs!" she said in between heaves. Once she had recovered from her sprint, the two of them resumed their trek up the stone steps. "So, I know why I'm late, but what's your excuse?" she said slyly.

He laughed. "I told the girls I'd be a little late because I had a night class." He laughed again when she pouted up at him. He gave her a pat on the back and began again, "Don't worry. I'm sure once they see you with me-"

A squeal up ahead distracted him from finishing his sentence. They both turned to see an overly eager Belle running towards them. She jumped into Mamoru's arms, gripping him tightly about the neck. "Endy!" she squealed again.

Usagi watched as he cringed and awkwardly put an arm around her back. "Hi Belle," he said sheepishly. She saw the other senshi waving up ahead with hearts in their eyes and when Mamoru noticed them, he flushed red. "Um… how about we go inside and get started, eh?" He dropped his arm so that Belle had no support and had to drop back down to the ground. She moped a little before linking her arm through his and guiding them inside.

Usagi was embarrassed for her princess. After a year of fighting by his side – and against him as a civilian – she felt she knew Mamoru at least on some basic level. He was definitely _not_ the PDA kind of guy. He didn't like to draw attention to himself. In fact, he had spent most of his life learning to blend in with the shadows. His childhood had taught him to be reserved and to not freely show emotion for fear that it not be openly returned. Considering how cheery and exuberant Belle was, it looked like it was going to be a rocky start for the fated pair. She shook her head. It wasn't her business.

* * *

"I love your hair like that, princess," Minako said with a praising smile once they were seated inside. She was running her fingers through the tail end of Belle's long locks. It was down from its buns and swirled over her shoulders in silver waves. "It's as long as mine!"

Belle preened. "I only wore it in the buns so you'd recognize me as princess. But now that you know who I am, there's really no reason to keep doing it. It's such a silly style, really," she said with a disdainful glance at Usagi's own buns.

"I bet you got lots of strange comments from people thinking you were trying to be Odango Atama," Rei laughed. Usagi's cheeks burned bright red. It was bad enough she got comments on her hair before, but now that they knew it was the royal style she'd never hear the end of it. Part of her had thought of putting it down as Belle had apparently decided, but another part of her was bitter enough that she didn't want to give the new girl the satisfaction of making her change her treasured style. Despite the comments, particularly from Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome, she'd always been compelled to keep up with her infamous buns. Damned if she wasn't going to follow through now.

"Girls, girls," came Luna's tired tone. Always the disciplinarian, she called the meeting to order. After welcoming Mamoru and mentioning off-handedly how she hoped he would help bring an air of maturity to their gatherings, she delved right in, "How is it that after all this time we are still no closer to finding Beryl's hideout?"

Rei perked up defensively. "Well, we're still missing one of the rainbow crystals. Maybe after we find it and they form the Silver Crystal, we'll have a better chance."

Luna nodded her head. "Good thinking, Rei. It is key that we find the final crystal before Zoicite. Especially since they already have three. Who knows what they can do with the power of four. Now, Ami has been sharing with me some interesting statistics about our recent battles. Would you like to tell the others?" Luna turned to the brains of the operation to continue the meeting.

Usagi had tuned them out by then. Her focus was on the princess across from her and the man whose hand she was holding. The girl was practically preening up at Mamoru and he was doing his best to ignore her and listen to Ami's report. Usagi rolled her eyes. She was trying way too hard.

"Well," Artemis said after Ami finished, "it is clear that you all need to be seamless as a team so that the youma can't break through your defenses. No slip-ups."

"No tardiness," Luna added with a significant look at Usagi.

The blonde stuck her tongue out at the dig. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know," she said while waving her hand in dismissal.

"This is serious, Usagi. We can't let the Negaverse acquire the last rainbow crystal. And since we don't know when we're going to stumble across the next crystal carrier, you all have to be extra vigilant at _every _battle." The girls all nodded.

"Not only that," Artemis cut in, "but you have to keep a very close eye on the princess. Beryl would love nothing more than to have her under her control. She has great powers of mind control, who knows what she would make the princess do."

Belle shuddered and, for the first time that night, Mamoru paid attention to her. He carefully put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze. "We won't let that happen, Belle," he whispered strongly.

"Of course we won't!" Rei shouted.

"I had a thought, princess," Ami spoke up softly from her corner of the room. "As the Silver Crystal is your birthright, is there any chance that you can sense when its shards are close by?"

Everyone turned to the ice senshi with interested looks. She blushed and then continued, "I've tried for months to come up with a program on my computer to separate out the crystal carriers from the other youma, but I've had no luck. If you were able to sense the presence of a crystal, then we'd have a heads up when we needed to catch it after healing the innocent."

"That's brilliant, Ami!" Makoto said, patting her enthusiastically on the back.

Belle worried her lip between her teeth. "I've never tried. Where are the crystals now?"

Immediately, Usagi popped open her subspace pocket and snatched out the 3 crystals that they had found with Tuxedo Kamen's help. She placed them carefully on the coffee table. Belle reached out a tentative hand, then closed her eyes to concentrate. Everyone watched her with avid hope.

After a few seconds, Usagi's could've sworn she felt a humming of some sort. The room also seemed a bit warmer, as if the crystals were radiating heat. A ripple of power washed up against her senses. She didn't realize she had closed her eyes to absorb the sensation until she felt Minako poking her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see that Belle had retracted her hand and the heat from the crystals had faded.

"I definitely felt something," she said.

"Me too!" Usagi agreed with a bright smile.

Everyone looked at her strangely. "Really, Usagi-chan?" Minako asked. "I didn't feel anything."

"Neither did I, and we all know I'm more attuned to spiritual power than you," Rei said bitterly.

"It was probably just a fluke," Makoto suggested.

Ami pondered the matter. "I think it's highly probable that because the crystals have been in Usagi's possession for so long, she may be sympathetic to their resonance." She smiled warmly at Usagi, who smiled back at the explanation. "But, regardless, if Belle felt something, then maybe we have a chance to get the upper hand in the next battle."

Belle lifted up her chin proudly. "I'll do my best!" Then she squealed, happy to be able to help her senshi, and latched onto Mamoru's arm. He grumbled beside her. When Usagi leaned forward to collect the crystals, Belle stopped her. "Shouldn't I hold on to them from now on? They might help me sense the final crystal."

Usagi paused. The thought didn't agree with her.

"After all, as Ami said, they're my birthright. It only makes sense."

Everyone was silent for a moment. "Of course, princess," Minako said carefully. She didn't want to upset Usagi any more than she had to, but Belle made a good point. She glanced sideways at her blonde friend and winced at the hurt expression on her face.

"Um, right," Usagi mumbled. She retracted her hand and watched the silver-haired girl scoop up the treasures and secure them in her own subspace pocket.

"This will mean that you have to protect the princess even more fiercely," Luna said sternly. "Belle, you are not to enter the field of battle. Remain hidden while you try to sense if there is a crystal present. I don't want anyone spotting you or for Zoicite to realize that you're a frequent presence when the senshi fight. No one can know who you are," she finished sharply.

"Indeed, _no one_," Artemis repeated. He turned to the senshi. "Protect the princess at all costs." They all obediently nodded. Of course. They weren't about to let the most important person in their lives be taken without a fight.

"Mamoru," Luna said carefully while addressing the tall man. "I think it goes without saying that you'll do your best to watch over Belle," she trailed off and he waited for her to continue, "especially at the times when the senshi may not be around…"

He choked when her meaning fully hit him. The girls all started to giggle hysterically. He tuned to Usagi for help and she just raised an amused eyebrow at him. She wiggled it suggestively and he quickly turned back to Luna before he lost it. "Uh, yes, of course," he coughed.

"That's settled, then!" the black cat squeaked out, embarrassed beyond belief. "Meeting adjourned!

* * *

"How was she today?" Kunzite asked casually when Zoicite entered his quarters. The other man didn't answer immediately, instead plopping down into a lounge chair.

"Pissy as usual." There was a sigh as the younger man pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's angry that it's taking me so long to find the damned princess. I don't know why she thinks it's so easy. The senshi haven't even found her!"

Kunzite turned around in his desk chair to face the general. "Are you sure?"

Zoicite looked askance at him. "Well, no. I suppose they could be hiding her very well. I'm running out of ideas on how to ferret her out, though." He slung his legs up over the arm the chair and leaned his head into the back cushions. "I'm so tired."

"You can't be," his lover responded sharply.

Zoicite opened one eye to glare at him. "Give me a break, Kunz."

"No," he insisted. "You have to do everything you can. You have to work your ass off. There's no time for rest when Beryl might turn you into dust the next time you fail." He stood up and walked over to his companion.

"I know, I know," was the tepid response. "I told her we needed to gather more dark energy first, which is true. I sent out another youma. She's appeased for now."

Kunzite had reached his side and ran a hand over his strawberry blonde hair. "I won't lose you, Zoi. I refuse to lose you."

Zoicite looked up at him sadly. He reached out and clasped the older man's hand tightly in his own. "We can't keep living with the threat of death looming over us. We have to find a way out… before she has a chance to turn me into another General Popsicle."

* * *

"Get it, Mars!" Sailor Moon screamed from her position across the battlefield. She watched as her friend's fire singed the youma. It quickly recovered and spun to fling out a handful of energy bombs. Moon sprung to her left and tucked herself into Tuxedo Kamen's arms. He held up his cape to cover them both from the harsh blasts.

"Belle, are you sure?" Mercury whispered to the girl hidden in the trees behind her.

Belle was shaking. She still wasn't used to the adrenaline that filled her system during a battle. That, and she was terrified of the youma that her senshi had become accustomed too. "Yes, there's nothing there."

"Ok." The ice senshi pivoted on her heel and yelled out, "Jupiter now! The ankle!" Her fellow warrior immediately charged up a lightning strike and hurdled it at the youma. In seconds it was a pile of smoking dust.

"That was an easy one," the newly de-transformed Makoto said a few minutes later while cracking her knuckles. No one had gotten a single scratch on them.

Ami looked up from her computer as she inputted the fight's statistics. "Yes, it was rather fast."

"We're getting better at this!" Minako said triumphantly. "Soon those youma won't stand a chance."

Rei huffed loudly. "Always so sure, Minako-chan." She rolled her eyes at the others, then turned seriously back to the Venusian. "Just because that one was easy, doesn't mean the next one will be."

"Rei's right," Luna said as she bounded out of hiding with Artemis. "We must work very hard to ensure that the Negaverse doesn't gain the upper hand." She glanced over and smiled bemusedly when she saw Usagi yawn. "Let's continue this discussion tomorrow after school. For now, it's time you girls got some sleep. Come on, Usagi," she beckoned with a flick of her head, "let's go home."

"Wait, Luna," Belle called as everyone started to go their separate ways. The cat turned her attention to the younger girl, a questioning look on her face. "Why don't you come home with me and Mako-chan?"

Everyone froze and turned to watch the exchange.

"What?" Luna and Usagi asked at the same time.

"Well, I miss having my advisor around. Plus, now that we've found each other, there's no need for you to bother Usagi anymore," she said matter-of-factly.

There was a laugh. Usagi tore her dumbstruck eyes away from her princess to see the senshi of fire with a grin on her face. "This is great! Just think, no more lectures, Usagi-chan!" The other girls smiled brightly too, knowing how their leader hated Luna's constant reprimands.

The blonde gave a weak smile for their benefit. She looked down at Luna, her guardian and overall pain in the butt. Despite their arguments, she truly cared for her proverbial voice of reason. More than lecturing her on senshi matters, the feline had been a sounding board for all the troubles in her life. Luna was always very good at knowing when something was truly important to her charge and during those times, instead of lecturing, she would quietly offer her comfort and Usagi would delve her hands into her soft fur until she had eased into a state of contentment.

She noticed a movement to her left and saw Mamoru moving to stand supportively closer to her. He was the only one who didn't seem pleased. In fact, he was almost scowling. Usagi's attention was drawn back to her friends who were ribbing Luna and warning their princess of her many annoying habits. "Huh, yeah, no more claws waking me up in the morning," she supplied half-heartedly.

"Is that all right with you?" Luna asked in a quiet voice. Usagi couldn't decide if she sounded tentative or sad. They shared a long, knowing look.

She smiled reassuringly at the feline. "Of course, Luna. It only makes sense that you'd stay with the princess. You'll have plenty of time to yell at me at senshi meetings," she finished with a hollow chuckle.

Luna bowed her head, ignoring the tease and accepting the dismissal. "Uh, yes," Luna said after a cough, now addressing the rest of the assembled warriors. "I suppose that only makes sense," she said in answer to Belle's original declaration.

Mamoru huffed and abruptly stalked from the battle. Belle called after him, confused, but he ignored her and continued on. Usagi watched him with a thoughtful expression as the other senshi dispersed to their homes.

"You go on ahead with Mako-chan, Luna," she heard Belle say close to her right side. "I'll be along in a minute."

The cat obeyed and Usagi watched her leave with a heavy heart. She would miss that furball. Once Luna was out of view, she turned quizzically to her princess. The younger girl was facing slightly away and staring after her prince solemnly. "He is so much colder than Endy."

With a jolt of surprise, Usagi realized that her princess was confiding in her. She decided not to take her moment of confidence lightly. "You just need to know how to draw him out," she whispered encouragingly. Belle turned finally to face her, her eyes almost too intensely focused on her blonde companion. Nervously and cautiously, Usagi continued, "He's had a much harder life than the prince."

"Why? What happened to him?"

Usagi dipped her head. "I don't think that I should be the one to tell you." She joined the princess again in gazing at the shrinking, retreating back of Mamoru.

"You like him," Belle stated with authority.

She watched as Usagi blushed at the comment. "Of course not! He is your fiancé, princess. I just think it would be better if you were the one to talk to him about his past instead of having me tell you." She sighed sadly. "Mamoru has to trust someone deeply before he opens up to them. If you're able to open him up, you will have his trust. And trust, I think, is an essential part of a relationship."

"You two are very close friends," the monarch amended.

Usagi let her eyes drift to Mamoru's form one last time before she harshly averted them. They shut tightly before Belle could discern what emotions swirled within them. "Yes."

That was all she said and her companion had the presence of mind not to question her reaction. Instead, after a few respectful moments, the silver-haired girl decided to shift the path of the conversation. "So, would you mind helping me? I can't seem to get through to him on my own."

When the blonde looked up with a smile on her face, Belle thought her diversion had worked. She hadn't noticed how forced the smile was. "Of course I will help you, princess."

* * *

"You seem happy," Usagi said to him many days later at the arcade after school. She slid into the stool next to his. "I haven't seen you around for breakfast in a while."

Mamoru smiled hesitantly. He didn't want to tell her that he'd been avoiding her. "Yeah, exams are coming up. I've been studying late every night and going straight to school in the mornings." It wasn't a complete lie. Exams were next week and he had had to study more than usual since his adventures as Tuxedo Kamen had put him behind in some classes. But even with the extra study time his mornings and afternoons were free. The truth was that his feelings were becoming more conflicted every day and he had decided the solution was to spend less time with Usagi and more with Belle. He needed to focus on his princess and give their relationship a real chance.

"Ah," his companion said. She turned away to catch Motoki's attention and order a milkshake to pass the time until her friends showed up. Part of him was relieved that she didn't press the issue – for the old Usagi, the one that used to klutz out and give him a hard time for calling her Odango Atama, wouldn't have let the matter go without a fight. He sighed in self-pity and gazed at her unguarded profile.

She had matured so much in such a short time. Like years had passed instead of weeks. 'Sometimes it only takes a catalyst,' he remembered, hearing his Psychology professor's voice in his head.

The Princess.

Of course she had changed. The threat of expulsion had forced her to. She couldn't afford to be ditzy and silly now that she didn't have the position of leader to secure her a place amongst the senshi. Wasn't that the only thing that ever kept Mars from drop-kicking her out of every battle? The only reason why Mercury followed someone less intelligent and strategic than herself? Someone not nearly as tough a fighter as Makoto? Not as commanding as Minako?

How hard must it have been for her to realize how little her friends thought of her? To understand that the only way to remain a member of the team was to prove useful in some way? It always amazed him that they couldn't focus on her virtues instead of her vices. He knew they all loved her. There was no question that they wouldn't die for her. So how could it be so hard to praise her?

Even at their worst, when he and Usagi did nothing but spat insults at each other, Mamoru could tell she was special. He knew why she drew in so many friends and why he was secretly jealous of her – the ammunition behind most of his arguments with her.

She was light personified.

Bright rays burst out of her every pore so that she glowed. Her golden hair, flawless skin and brilliant blue eyes acting as a beacon for anyone who needed a taste of purity. Her heart was the source, a blazing sun that warmed her from the inside out and kept a constant smile on her face.

He had envied her this light. He had lived so long in the darkness and had been frustrated at the ease with which she walked through life. No worries, no complications, no problems that a chocolate milkshake couldn't fix. He had tried to tease every perfection out of her, but she proved amazingly resilient to his anger. So resilient that instead of him whittling away at her light, she had softened his dark edges.

* * *

_Ok, now we're finally getting somewhere! Things are going to start to get even more complicated for poor Mamoru as he forms closer bonds with both Usagi and Belle. Stay tuned!_


	6. Chapter 5

**So Hard to Find **by Sereko

Here is a nice long chapter for everyone! I'll be curious to see how you like this one as there are some things I think you'll love and some you might hate. Let me know! And thank you for all your encouraging reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, but Belle is very much my own creation.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

They were meeting at the mall after school – not so much for shopping as for Belle to grill her about Mamoru. Usagi had been reluctant to help her at first. It seemed perverse to aid the girl in winning the heart of the man she was falling in love with. But then the newer, more responsible and decidedly less petty side of her had kicked in. She may not have liked it, but the prince and princess were meant to be. They had shared an incredible love story in the Silver Millennium and it was only fair that they got to finish it now that they'd found each other again. Usagi couldn't stand in the way. If she did, the romantic in her would always feel guilty about keeping apart two soulmates.

Usagi approached her princess cautiously. She was sitting on a bench across from the food court. "Hi Belle," she announced when she got close enough to be seen.

"Usagi!" The younger girl sprung up from her seat to give the Moon senshi an enthusiastic hug. "Thank you so much for meeting me. I know it may seem silly to ask for help, but Endy is one tough nut to crack."

"It's okay. I understand."

"Great!" Bell grinned, then linked their arms and began a circuit around the mall. "So, where do we start? I think the worst problem is that he doesn't seem very comfortable around me."

Usagi took a deep breath. And here we go… "He's a pretty reserved guy. He's rarely, if ever, openly affectionate."

Belle pouted. It was such an Usagi thing to do, that the blonde paused. The two of them actually had very similar temperaments. Both were optimistic to a fault, with easy smiles, bright eyes and energetic hugs. Usagi may have tamed down a bit in her effort to garner more respect, but she could see her former bouncy self in her princess. She smiled. It was nice to have something to link them. Especially since she always felt slightly distanced from her liege.

"That doesn't mean you can't get him to be," she continued to stave off her princess's sour mood. Belle looked at her hopefully. "You just have to be patient and let him come to you. But don't give him too much time. That man can be very stubborn, so you might have to push him a little as well."

Belle nodded, thoughtful. She started to imagine how she could achieve her goal of a hand-holding, publicly kissing Mamoru. She heard Usagi say something and immediately popped out of her daydream. "Sorry, what?"

"That's Rule #2," Usagi stated again.

The younger girl looked at her quizzically. "Rule #2?"

"Yup," Usagi said with a nod, "of the _Rules to Win Mamoru_." She grinned when the princess laughed.

"Number 2? What happened to #1?" Belle asked.

Usagi smiled slyly, starting to enjoy this. Her princess was eating up everything she said like she was an authority on Mamoru – which, she supposed, she kinda was. It was amazing how nice it felt to have someone hang on her words for once. Ami may have been smart, but even she wasn't Mamo-smart. Usagi had found a subject she could ace. She grinned again.

This time it was Belle that had to snap her out of her thoughts. God, they really were alike. "Number One," she said slowly to enunciate its importance, "Do. Not. Call. Him. Endy."

And then they were off. Over the next two hours, Usagi shared several jewels of wisdom with her. Such as, Rule #8: "Challenge him" and Rule #12: "Show him that you love him… often." They spent the entire day going over the finer details of one Chiba Mamoru.

Usagi left some stuff up to chance, of course, but there were a few fundamentals that she knew her princess would need to know in order to start truly connecting with her dark friend. Mamoru wasn't predisposed to sharing with people, so Belle would've been hard-pressed to find out on her own. At least not in the timeframe she had. It seemed the prince and princess had decided to skip the courting phase and were jumping straight into a full-blown relationship. It irked Usagi that they thought they could ignore all the hard-fought for things she herself had cultivated with Mamoru in their year of knowing one another.

She watched her walk out the sliding glass doors with a frown. They had ended their Mamoru lessons for the day. Belle was very excited to use her new insider knowledge the next time she saw the man. Usagi was realizing that, in retrospect, maybe helping her princess wasn't the brightest idea. Could she really handle seeing her woo Mamoru-baka?

After taking her place as leader, then the crystals, then Luna… could Usagi really afford to lose Mamoru as well? Well, she was sure enough in their friendship that he wouldn't go too far. But the dream of something more with him had been building for the past few months.

First she'd started seeing him as more than just a daily annoyance. Then, as Tuxedo Kamen began to stay and fight more often in battles, she'd been so happy that Mamoru's barbs had stopped hitting their marks. Of course, looking back, now that she knew they were one in the same she wondered if his feelings had also been changing. Eventually, their fighting had become bantering and they began to see behind the walls they'd erected around their hearts.

"Oh, bother," she sighed sadly, interrupting her owns thoughts before they became too mushy. "This is gonna suck."

* * *

"Belle asked me about my parents yesterday," Mamoru admitted over his morning coffee. It was several days later and as his exams had ended; they'd started up their morning routine again.

Usagi looked up from the rather humorous comic she was reading. She tried to search his face to gauge his mood but he had quickly returned to his newspaper. "And did you tell her?"

He shook his head and she could've sworn he was embarrassed by it. "I don't know why I didn't. I've been waiting for her my entire life, haven't I?" He looked at Usagi as if she were going to deny it. "For years I've wanted to find her so that I could have someone to share things with. Someone who loved me and cared about my life. Someone who would listen to my stupid problems." He was frustrated with himself. It was obvious to anyone around him these past few weeks that he was struggling with his relationship with the princess. He angrily ran a hand through his hair. "So why didn't I tell her?"

Usagi leaned back when he turned his intense and confused blue eyes on her. "I don't know, Mamoru," she began hesitantly. "I think you might be expecting too much from her, and she's been expecting too much from you." Mamoru looked at her askance, trying to see where she was going with this. The blonde laid down her manga to give him her undivided attention. "You both seem to be forgetting that you know nothing about each other. Yeah, you were lovers in a past life," she had to stop herself from gagging on the word 'lovers', "but you only just met in this one. You can't expect an instant connection, an instant and perfect relationship. You guys have to get to know each other as more than just prince and princess. It's only natural that you didn't want to spill your most closely guarded secret to a relative stranger."

"When did you get so smart?" he smirked and she blushed. As he processed what she said, they went back to drinking their drinks and reading their news – albeit his concerning the world and hers the latest fashion trends – and forgetting for a moment that there was a whole city coming alive around them. After several minutes, Mamoru broke their silence. "I told _you_," he said meaningfully.

Usagi looked up to see him gazing out the window. The fog was rolling by and in turns covering and uncovering the bustling city beneath it. "I was very persuasive," she finally responded.

He turned back to her then with a genuine smile. "No, you were very happy."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not," she snarked.

He let out a chuckle. "It's a compliment. I thought that if I told you, your happiness would negate my sadness." He paused and looked at her a moment. "I thought we would balance each other out."

She looked back at him. "We do."

His eyes sparked and she felt something begin to stir within her. All of a sudden it seemed those impossibly blue depths had come alive, shining and swirling chaotically with every emotion that Mamoru possessed. She watched transfixed as all his thoughts presented themselves to her, completely unguarded. He had opened up to her before, but never like this. Never had she felt like his very soul was straining against the confines of his body.

He reached over the table to grasp her hand. She couldn't prevent a little gasp at the contact. Every nerve ending in her body was alight, aware and waiting to absorb everything this man would throw at her. His thumb brushed her knuckles and he tugged so that she leaned closer towards him. Her breath was coming out in short, little jolts that did nothing but make her heart rate fly through the roof. "Mamoru-chan…"

"Here you go, Usagi!" came a loud voice from their side. She snapped out of her daze and flew back in her seat just as Mamoru snatched back his hand to cover his face. Motoki laid down her morning muffin and deftly refilled his best friend's coffee cup while balancing his tray upon his other hand.

As he flittered about, Usagi couldn't help but drag her gaze back to the dark man across from her. He was staring right back at her. His eyes were haunted now, shuttered closed, but surveying her all the same. They were both breathing deeply as if they had just run down the block… or as if they had just done something more than simply hold hands. Usagi blushed. Mamoru raised a curious eyebrow and was then forced to finally respond to the many questions Motoki was bombarding him with. It seemed Motoki was behind on Physics yet again. If he weren't such a good arcade manager, he might've had more time to focus on school.

* * *

They avoided each other for a while after that. A line had almost been crossed and they needed some time apart. Mamoru dedicated himself to spending more alone time with Belle and Usagi stopped coming in to the arcade for their morning breakfast. It was the second time that they'd done this.

The first time, Usagi didn't know why Mamoru had decided to avoid her in the morning, but now they both knew all too well what was going on. Their friendship had progressed to the razor's edge between friends and something more. Even before Belle had arrived, they were on their way to something. Her arrival wasn't enough to shock them out of it and go back to just being friends. Which meant that they'd have to force the issue.

So, over the next week, Usagi attached herself to her fellow senshi, going out for ice cream and shopping. She missed her gal pals, especially since she didn't have Luna's feminine influence constantly hounding her.

Belle seemed a bit awkward with her around so much more often, which actually worked out well since that meant she left to spend more time with Mamoru. The few times Usagi has seen them together, however, the man still looked stiff and uncomfortable. Apparently her princess hadn't taken her advice to heart.

* * *

By the end of the week, they had both silently agreed that they'd paid their dues and could go back to hanging out. As long as they made sure that they didn't let themselves stray from a strict definition of "friends."

"I'm sorry you lost Luna," he said out of the blue that afternoon while they sat together in their booth. Usagi pondered over his wording.

"Thanks. It's weird not having her around," she admitted knowing he was the only person who seemed to understand what the cat meant to her. "I'd gotten used to having a confidant. It doesn't seem like it, but she's really good at listening and talking me through my rants." She picked at her nails. They may have called a truce, but she was still jittery around him. It felt awkward knowing how close they'd come…

Mamoru nodded. "I can see that. No one has only one side; there wasn't much of a chance that all Luna ever did was lecture people." He shared a smile with her. Then, after a quiet, slightly strained, moment passed between them, he added, "But just so you know, you can always talk to me."

Usagi burst into laughter, her anxiety quickly melting away with an onslaught of mirth. Mamoru raised his eyebrows, not fully understanding why that was such a crazy thing to say. Several months ago, maybe. They weren't as close then. They fought more and hadn't learned to trust each other yet. He waited until her laughs turned to chuckles, then giggles, and finally grins. "So, why was that funny?" he asked with a quirked brow.

She smiled at him, still bemused by whatever it was that had set her off before. "No offense Mamoru, but you don't make a very good woman."

Now he was really confused. Woman?

She laughed brightly again, drawing Motoki's attention until he was shooting Mamoru conspiratorial glances – as if to say 'What did you say to her?' He just shrugged at his friend who had to turn and help a new customer.

"Sorry," she said when her second bout of chuckles died down. "It's just that I tell Luna all my girly stuff. Nothing you'd want to hear… or understand for that matter."

He took the last as a challenge. "Try me."

It was Usagi's turn to raise an eyebrow. She appraised him for a minute, then seemed to agree to the dare. "Okay," she began, "for instance, last week I was asking her advice on my hair."

Mamoru immediately cut in, looking proud of himself, "That's easy. Don't change a thing. It's perfect how it is."

Usagi fought down a blush at the unexpected compliment. She averted her eyes to the laminated tabletop. "Okaaaay," she dragged out by way of answer. It's not like she could tell him that the reason she wanted to change it was so that it didn't look so much like Belle's. That would be taken the wrong way. But didn't he hate her hair, anyway? Wasn't that how her horrid nickname had come about all those months ago?

"Next?" he asked eagerly. This was fun. Girl advice was easy.

She paused, giving him another appraising look. After several dragging moments, she asked him in all seriousness, "Do you believe in soulmates?" She hoped she didn't cross a line by asking the question.

Mamoru frowned. Well, okay, maybe it wasn't easy. He was definitely no expert in the love department. "I dunno," he shrugged, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

His Odango Atama turned away from him. She knew there was no way she could tell him how she felt if she had to stare into his fathomless eyes. Easier to watch the passers-by on the street… easier to focus blindly until the world seemed to fade away. "I do," she whispered. Mamoru leaned forward to be able to hear her over the din of the arcade. "I think that everyone was created with one perfect match, someone who can make them whole. Love is way too big a thing to not have some larger plan behind it. What's the point of everyone just randomly bumping in and out of relationships? What's the point if there isn't a perfect someone out there waiting for you?" Her voice faded off.

Mamoru was a little surprised at how deeply she'd thought about this. She had always seemed so well loved and so easy to love by everyone, it never occurred to him that she might long for someone. A jealous twitch started under one of his eyes. Who was good enough for her? What man thought that they could be _his_ Odango's soulmate? His thoughts were jarred off course by the sound of her voice starting up again.

"You found your soulmate," she said sadly. He instantly regretted his bout with jealousy from just a moment before. Gods, how selfish could he be? He already had his princess but he didn't want anyone to have Odango? 'It's a damn good thing Odango turned out to be Sailor Moon, otherwise you'd have three women to be possessive over,' he thought to himself. And, apparently, their self-imposed exile from each other hadn't been quite long enough for him.

"You both found each other after a thousand years apart. It's so amazing that your souls could call to each other like that. Such a strong connection! I wonder who will be mine? What will he be like? Did I meet him on the Moon too? Will he travel a thousand years to find me again?" She sounded so wistful. It was all Mamoru could do not to move to her side of the booth and hold her.

* * *

The next day, in the dead of night, Usagi sprinted up the steps of Makoto's apartment complex. When she reached her friend's door, she knocked loudly on it, not caring if she woke the neighbors.

"Usagi?" Makoto questioned when she cautiously opened the door. She stared at her fellow senshi with sleepy eyes. "What are you doing here so late?" She looked over at the clock on her wall and noticed the time. "It's almost midnight!"

Before Makoto could become concerned and start asking questions, Usagi interrupted, "Can I please speak to Belle?"

"Belle?" Makoto repeated. With curious eyes, she nodded her head and allowed Usagi to enter the apartment. Shuffling down the hall in her fuzzy slippers, Makoto couldn't suppress a yawn while she knocked on Belle's door. A very groggy voice mumbled on the other side.

"Please, Mako-chan. I need her out here now!" Usagi was practically jumping up and down with nerves.

Makoto looked at her curiously again before knocking a little louder on Belle's door. "Belle! Usagi's here. She needs to see you right away!" The brunette looked once more at her leader. She could tell that whatever emergency had brought Usagi to her apartment was important. She had that glint in her eye that meant she was trying to protect somebody. What she didn't understand was why Usagi couldn't help this person on her own or why she needed Belle, of all people, to assist her. For that matter, it couldn't have been too big an emergency or Makoto would have been answering a call from Sailor Moon on her communicator instead.

Seconds later a sleepy princess opened her bedroom door, Luna at her heels. She walked over to Usagi, keeping a manageable distance despite their newfound friendship. "What is it, Usagi? Can this not wait until tomorrow?" She rubbed her eyes tiredly, slipping unconsciously back into her princess-speak.

"No!" Usagi insisted. She took as step towards the younger girl and flinched when Belle pulled backwards in response. "It's Mamoru, Belle." That got her attention. Belle perked right up. "He needs you."

"Me?" the princess asked shocked.

Makoto laid a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "Of course he would want you if he were in trouble, princess." She nudged the girl affectionately. "You are his soulmate, after all."

Usagi couldn't readily explain why, but her friend's words sent a spear through her heart. Her heart that was still aching because of a man half way across town. "Belle, please. He needs you right now. Can you put on some clothes and come with me?"

Belle ran so fast that Usagi and Makoto could barely see her. Before either of them knew it, she was standing right in front of the door fully clothed. "Let's go!" she said in a chipper voice that suggested that she had just ingested several cups of coffee.

Before they could bolt out the door, Makoto grabbed Usagi's wrist. "Is everything all right? Do you need me to come along?" she asked worried. She didn't know what was going on but she didn't particularly like the idea of their princess out late a night without protection.

Usagi followed her train of thought. "It's okay – nothing senshi related. If we run into anything, I'll protect her. I promise," she said severely to ensure that her friend knew she wasn't kidding around. Luna gazed approvingly up at her.

"Is he okay?"

"He's not hurt or anything. Don't worry, Mako-chan." She glanced over her shoulder when their silver-haired liege let out a grumble of frustration. She wanted to go to her prince. Now. Usagi looked back into Makoto's eyes. "I'll make sure she gets back soon."

* * *

She approached him carefully. He was seated at a bench facing the park's lake. Its gentle waves brushed up against the shore in a soothing rhythm. Mamoru didn't notice. His elbows were on his knees, his head in his hands and his eyes were closed. He looked hopeless to her, as if he were resigned to his life. With a hesitant breath she reached out to lay a hand softly on his shoulder. His body froze slightly in response before it fell back into its complacency when he sensed that she wasn't a threat.

Without invitation she filled the empty seat beside him, all the while keeping her hand on his shoulder. Her first instinct was to call out his name and she almost did before Usagi's voice rang through her head, "Rule #1: Do not call him Endy." Taking another breath, she spoke out quietly, "Mamoru?"

He didn't move or make any response so she slid her hand down his arm. Her touch was feather light as it continued tracing his arm until her fingers brushed against his own. They were still resting against his face, cradling its weight. She let her hand move past his fingertips in order to brush some of his windblown tresses behind his ear.

Finally, Mamoru moved. He caught her hand in his and pulled it away from his cheek as he turned his head to look at her. His deep blue eyes were tormented. 'So familiar,' was all he could think as he stared back at her. The smoothness of her skin against his was like a memory shrouded in fog. A vision drifted through his mind of a girl with eyes like her mother who used to light up his heart with her bright smile.

"Belle."

It was like hearing the angels call her. "Please, Mamoru. Talk to me." She soothed him with her voice as much as she could. What her voice couldn't calm, her hand did with repetitive stroking over his upper arm. Again, Usagi's advice flittered through her head, "Rule #2: Be patient, but make sure to push him as well." Patience. She could deal with that. To be aggressive, however. Aggressive enough to push him over the edge so that he would unload his problems. Belle wasn't sure if she had enough in her to do that.

"Tell me," she insisted with a squeeze of her hand. He tried to turn his head away again, but she caught his chin. "I'm here. It's me, Mamoru. Look at me." She shook his head when his eyes drifted to the ground. "I'm here," she said more insistently.

There was silence for a long time. Belle and Mamoru just stared at each other.

With an ease unbefitting the situation, Mamoru leaned forward. Belle felt a shiver run up her spine when his breath came out in little puffs against her lips. And then he was kissing her. It was tender and mild and by far the most wonderful thing that Belle had ever been a part of. He pulled away slowly, tentatively. She looked into his eyes as he looked into hers. There was a connection there, Belle knew it, and it was becoming more tangible every day.

Eventually, Mamoru tried to speak. His voice was scratchy at first, as if he hadn't spoken in months. "It," the word came out as a croak and he cleared his throat before trying again. "It was today." At first it seemed that he wasn't going to explain any more, but then he spoke up again. "I lost my parents fourteen years ago to the day."

"Fourteen years ago?" she reiterated. Her hand made its way to his cheek again and she wiped away a stray tear that had found itself there.

Mamoru's gaze seemed to change, as if he were realizing something while she sat beside him. "I was six years old."

Belle stroked his cheek a few more times. "I was two," she said.

He looked at her with startled eyes. "What?"

She smiled sadly at him. "I was two when I lost my parents." She turned to look out over the moonlit lake. "I don't remember them much. I only have flashes here and there. I feel more than see. Things like…" she trailed off in thought.

"Like the warmth of your mother's arms when she held you," Mamoru finished for her. He caught her eyes when she turned back to him. It was his turn to smile sadly.

"Yes, exactly. Or the smell of cigar smoke that always clung to my father."

A new light lit the former prince's eyes. He had found a kindred spirit. "I remember the sound of my mother's voice when she'd sing me to sleep. I can't remember any of the songs anymore." He paused, then laughed abruptly. "I think she mostly hummed anyway. I don't think she knew any of the words." His laughter softened until it faded with the cool breeze.

Belle slipped an arm through his and cuddled closer in a friendly manner. "I remember humming, too. Maybe they thought that since we were just children, all we needed was the melody and not the meaning." She winked at him and rested her head against his shoulder.

It wasn't until a while later, after they had been reminiscing and laughing and getting a bit teary eyed as well, that he realized her compromising position. He hadn't even been paying attention and now she was practically imbedded in his side. Not only that but he had managed to lace the fingers of his left hand with that of her right. When had that happened? He usually only lost track of himself like that when he was with Usagi.

He took a look down at the top of the head lying against him. A silvery head. One connected to a person that he had only just recently met.

But one that he had been in love with for a thousand years.

He moaned at his conflicted emotions. Would he never find peace? Never find contentment when it was dropped in his lap? Mamoru sighed inwardly and clasped Belle's hand a bit tighter. He let a smile light his face and thought, 'I won't turn away from happiness. And definitely not from my princess.' He kissed the forehead of the girl next to him, who immediately blushed in response, and continued to look out over the park with her.

* * *

Usagi sighed in her bed. After she had led Belle to Mamoru, she had returned home to try to get some sleep. It still eluded her, however. She tossed and turned for a while before giving up and opening her eyes. She had been staring at the popcorn ceiling of her house for the past forty-five minutes.

A couple of hours prior, Mamoru had become hot and bothered and he had projected his emotions to her. That was how she had known that he was grieving. His feelings were intense enough that they seemed to leap over the city to her. She simply could not understand why. With all of the time she had had to think that night, she still wasn't completely positive why she seemed to have developed a Mamoru-radar.

Her best guess was that the connection that he seemed to have with her, that alerted him anytime she was in trouble, was backfiring. Someone call maintenance! The wires were being crossed and now she was the one who could sense when he was in danger. Or, well, emotionally hurting anyway.

She turned over to look out her bedroom window at the crescent moon. Its light always managed to calm her. It could usually aid her in falling asleep, too, but apparently not this night! Usagi bunched her hands into fists.

"Damnit, Mamoru! I brought you your princess. Why aren't you happy yet?" She had felt like screaming the words but was smart enough to know that waking her parents would have been a bad thing. She wanted to smack Belle. She had gone to the girl because she knew her baka-friend needed comforting. And it had to be the princess that gave him that solace, not her. Not if they were ever going to have a chance at a real relationship. Usagi couldn't be the confidant all the time – even if she wanted to be. But it seemed Belle was squandering the gift she'd given her since Mamoru was still in pain.

After a few more minutes of anxiety, she felt the presence inside of her fade away. She shot up into a sitting position in fear. Her hand came to her breast and pressed tightly against the skin above her heart. "Mamoru!" she cried weakly. Then she quickly shook her head. He was fine. She couldn't feel anything anymore because he was finally content. But why had she felt like she had lost a part of her when his emotions went away? She should've been happy to be herself again.

But she wasn't.

Usagi huffed and lay back down to stare at the Moon some more.

* * *

_Before you all start throwing things at me for that Mamo/Belle kiss, I'd like to reassure you that there's a reason for everything. I swear!_


	7. Chapter 6

**So Hard to Find **by Sereko

Sorry for the delay on this. I started to second-guess where I was going with this story, but Ive found my way again!

P.S. Some of you have commented on the fact that I originally published this story way back in 2003 let me assure you that it hasnt taken me 6 years to finish what I have so far! This story came to me when I had some major writers block in the middle of my epic _Affair_. Without thinking, I posted what bit I had written and then when my _Affair_ muse came back, I put _SHtF_ on permanent hiatus. So, I didnt post anything from 2004 2008. Now that _Affair_ is over, this is my #1 story and I definitely plan on updating it as frequently as I can (especially since I was recently laid off and have a lot more time on my hands!). Hope that allays some of your fears!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, but Belle is very much my own creation.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

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* * *

**

The next morning, Usagi woke groggy and frustrated. At least it was Saturday. She sat up slowly and glanced around her disheveled room. Her window was still open from when she'd been searching out the Moon and it let in a cool breeze. It was all too serene, too quiet. She almost missed waking up to cat claws and Luna screeching as she was flung across the room. Usagi never could figure out why the cat continued to sleep by her feet when she always inevitably kicked her off the bed.

If she were here now, Luna would say that she was brooding. She would say she should get out of bed and go be productive.

Usagi sighed, wishing her life could be as easy as getting dressed and spending a day in the park with her friends… well, actually, that was her plan for the day. She laughed despite herself and started to get ready.

It was when she was underneath the hot spray of the shower that the worry crept in again. Mamoru had been very upset last night. And she had felt it. That was the first time that she had felt him like that and, while it was exhilarating, it was also troublesome. How was she supposed to watch Belle and Mamoru together when she could sense his moods? It would be like eavesdropping, or being a peeping tom.

She resolved to talk to Mamoru about it that day. This was something he should know about. Though maybe she wouldn't tell him at the park where she was supposed to have a picnic with not only her friends, but him and Belle too. Even if she could get him alone that afternoon, she didn't want to have this conversation within earshot of her princess or the senshi. So, they'd have a picnic and then she'd confront him afterward. She smiled satisfactorily.

* * *

Of course she was the last to arrive. Without her furry alarm clock, it was even less likely that she'd be on time. Especially on a weekend when she didn't follow her new regime of timeliness. It was one thing to get up early to spend the morning enjoying breakfast with Motoki and Mamoru. It was another thing entirely to waste a rare chance to sleep in.

"Hi guys!" She waved at everyone when she found them by the lake. They waved back in greeting. It looked like the picnic had already been grazed upon and now the girls were settling down with their activities of choice. Rei was happily sunbathing by the water and Ami was ensconced in a thick novel under a near-by tree.

Usagi walked up to Mamoru as he stood around the picnic blanket with the rest of the girls. He looked all right – not somber or even exhausted as she would've expected after a sleepless night. 'Maybe only my night was sleepless,' she grumbled. Belle was beaming next to him as she watched Minako and Makoto rooting around in a bag of games.

Well, it was obvious whatever happened last night had gone well. Usagi hadn't stuck around to see the gory details. She'd told the princess where to go and to make sure that either Mamoru walked her home or she called Makoto for a safe escort. When Belle had asked why Mamoru had called Usagi and not her, the blonde had done some amazingly fast thinking and said that he didn't have the princess's number – which was luckily true. If Belle assumed that Mamoru called her on the phone, she wasn't about to change her mind.

"Come on, Belle!" Minako called and she and Makoto started moving several yards away to an open stretch of grass. "We're gonna throw a frisbee around."

"Coming!" Belle glanced shyly up at Mamoru. Quickly, before she lost her nerve, she bounced up to her toes and pecked him on the lips. Then she spun around and ran after her senshi.

Usagi watched as he softly touched two fingers to his lips. He had an indecipherable look on his face. "Kissing, huh?"

"What?" he snapped out of his reverie. "Oh, uh, yeah." He felt his face heat up.

She shrugged as if it didn't bother her. "I'm gonna check out the food. I think Mako-chan made brownies." She sat down on the picnic blanket and several moments later he followed.

They sat nibbling on the potluck. Eventually, drawing himself out of his internal contemplations, Mamoru confessed, "I had a dream about Belle last night." When Usagi gave him a scandalized look, he quickly clarified, "About our past! From the Moon!"

Usagi laughed. "Suuuure," she said tauntingly.

He glared petulantly back at her. "I was just going to say that it's the first time I've truly seen her in a dream. She was always blurry in the ones I had growing up. I could never make out her features. But last night, there she was, clear as day. White dress, grey-blue eyes and her silver hair in those odangos. She looked young – younger than she is now. I wonder how old we all were when the Moon Kingdom fell…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, I had my first dream of her a few weeks ago."

"Really?"

She nodded. "The senshi have started having them too. I meant to ask Luna about it, but I keep forgetting when I see her. I'm still not used to her not always being around." She paused thoughtfully for a second. "It seems we're finally getting our memories back."

"What was your dream about? Were you able to tell who you were back then?" he questioned eagerly. It had become a sort of hobby of his to ponder over what role Usagi had played in the Silver Millennium. He'd come up with all sorts of theories - but of course there was no way to prove any of them. Their only true source of the past, Belle, didn't remember her.

Usagi grinned at his enthusiasm. She adjusted her back against the tree behind her and popped a strawberry into her mouth. In the distance, Makoto and Minako were playing keep-away with Belle. "I think I was a maid of some kind," she finally answered.

"What makes you think that?"

"I can see myself with the princess inside the palace, so I must've been trusted. In one dream the two of us were on the sidelines watching the senshi train… which means I definitely wasn't a senshi back then." She bit her lip on that one. It was strange to think that somehow she'd changed roles from past to present. No one else had. Well, except Mamoru to a certain extent. But prince-warrior and masked-warrior weren't too far off the mark. "I was in her room once, too, and she was trying on dresses. Like you said, she was younger then, just barely a young lady. I think I was her hand maiden."

When she looked over at Mamoru to gauge his reaction, his brow was furrowed. "You don't think so?" she asked.

He looked up from the red-checkered blanket they were sitting on. He shook his head once. "Seems strange that the Powers That Be would ask a hand maiden to take on the mantle of Sailor Moon to help protect the Earth."

"Maybe I was a bodyguard?"

He thought about that while munching on a red bean bun. "That seems more likely… though it doesn't make much sense as to why the princess would need more guards in addition to the senshi."

"Yeah," Usagi sighed in agreement. "Maybe I'll have another dream and I'll remember more. At least we know I existed. I was on the Moon with the rest of them. I was Lunarian."

Mamoru looked up at the pride that oozed out of her with that statement. He gave her a warm smile. He was happy that she finally felt she belonged.

It was a while later that Luna joined them. The sun had just started to dip and it bathed the pair in a warm, red light. The cat walked up cautiously, feeling like she was intruding for some reason. But that was silly, because Usagi and Mamoru hated each other. She shook her little feline head and bounded up onto Usagi's shoulder.

"Hi Luna!" the girl exclaimed.

"I think that's the happiest you've ever been to see me, Usagi-chan." The bright smile on her charge's… ex-charge's face was refreshing to see. Luna felt eyes on her and turned to see Mamoru staring unabashedly back. She quirked an eyebrow. "_Yes_?"

He coughed and quickly looked away. "Sorry, still gets me… a talking cat," he murmured.

The black cat's hackles rose and she hissed at him in offense.

"Oh, give him a break, Luna. I thought you were a wind-up toy the first time you spoke to me. Either that or I was hallucinating." She started to laugh at some long ago memory. "I seriously searched my room for drugs that night."

Luna balked. "Really?" Usagi nodded, gripping her stomach from her own hysterics. "Well," she said indignantly, raising her chin in that imperious way she had. "Just imagine that I'm a woman trapped in the body of a cat… not that I'm a cat who speaks," she instructed to a still fascinated Mamoru. He had a gleam in his eye. "Don't you dare think of dissecting me Chiba Mamoru!"

He barked in laughter. "Never!"

"So," Usagi drawled while tickling her chin, trying to change the subject to something much more interesting. "How's Artemis?"

"Ooooo," Mamoru said girlishly as if channeling Minako. "What about Artemis?"

"She likes him."

"Usagi!" Luna screeched. "Do you have to tell him everything?"

"Only things that will embarrass you, dear Luna, only those."

"Artemis is fine," she said sharply, not willing to elaborate with Mamoru still leering close-by. She glanced over to where the white fur ball was chasing butterflies. Luna rolled her eyes at his kittenish antics.

"And how's it living with Belle?"

Luna paused, lowering her eyes. She didn't want to say the wrong thing and offend the blonde. Then she remembered how the girl had embarrassed her just a moment ago and replied haughtily, "Great. _She_ doesn't kick me off the bed!"

Usagi gasped theatrically. "Hey! You could've slept in the comfy kitty bed I bought you. It's your own fault for choosing to be up with me. You know I roll!"

Luna blushed. She didn't want to admit that she liked sleeping with the girl. Despite her tendency to move around, it was comfortable. She always felt safe… and loved. "Well, it's definitely nice waking up to Mako-chan's cooking." She closed her eyes in blissful remembrance of the grilled fish and rice she'd enjoyed that morning.

Usagi, too, had closed her eyes as she thought of all the amazing lunches the brunette had provided her with. Then, she imagined having that for breakfast and dinner. She had to close her mouth before she started drooling.

Mamoru watched them and couldn't help but smile at their identical expressions. One of these days he vowed to hound Makoto into making him a home-cooked meal. He'd never had one before – Motoki's burgers at the arcade didn't count.

* * *

Usagi had lost her chance after the picnic. Everyone split up to go home once it was dark and Belle had attached herself to Mamoru's arm. There was no way she could get him alone to have their talk.

So, she waited until Monday morning before school when she knew she'd only have to pry him away from Motoki. She decided it would be easiest to get there super early and catch the prince before he came in for coffee. Which was why she was now hunched in the back alley of the arcade, peering around the corner for him.

He showed up a few minutes later. His hair was perfectly coifed, his jacket slung over one shoulder and his briefcase dangling from a few fingers. She sighed at his picture of casual elegance. And then she sprung.

Mamoru shouted in surprise when someone suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him into an alley. He dropped his briefcase and was getting ready to swing when he saw that it was Usagi. "Odango?" he questioned, letting his muscles relax. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you."

He quirked an eyebrow. "And we couldn't do that _inside_ the arcade like every other morning?"

"I didn't want Motoki to overhear," she huffed. He stared at her curiously.

"Well?" he asked somewhat impatiently when she didn't speak up. It was 6:00am and he hadn't had his first cup of coffee. Everyone, the Odango included, knew that he was irritable until he'd had some caffeine.

She seemed startled that he'd spoken. "Oh, uh, yes…" she stuttered, scratching the back of her head nervously. How was she going to bring this up? She saw Mamoru narrow his eyes at her and decided that she just had to say it quickly before he trampled her on his way to get coffee. "I sensed you the other day."

Mamoru's irritation disappeared to be replaced with confusion. "Huh?"

"Wh-When you were sad about your parents?"

"I remember," he rolled his eyes.

She cleared her throat. "Yes, well-"

"Wait," he interrupted. "How did you know about that?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I sensed you," Usagi repeated clearly. She was sure he'd start to pick up on her meaning by now, but he was still staring at her with a furrowed brow. She wrung her hands together. "You once told me that you could sense when I'm in danger… as Sailor Moon."

He nodded slowly.

"Have you ever been able to sense me as Usagi?" she asked hopefully. She had developed a theory about why she'd picked up his emotions and it was dependent on if he felt the same thing. She sighed when he shook his head. "Are you sure?"

"I think I'd notice, Odango." She growled at his sardonic response. "Are you telling me you felt me as Mamoru the other day?" She nodded. "Really? What did it feel like?" His tired mind finally kicked into gear and started to process what this might mean.

"It felt like I was inside you, like I was experiencing what you were experiencing." Her eyes softened. "You were extremely sad and it was tearing me up." She rubbed the spot over her heart as she remembered. She'd never felt such a strong pull. It had felt like every part of her - her body, her heart and her soul - had been straining to find Mamoru and comfort him. The need had consumed her. It had taken every spec of self-discipline that she had to find Belle instead.

Mamoru was holding his head in thought. "Crazy," he whispered. "That's what it's like for me too… granted, you're usually in pain or scared for your life. But, yeah, it's like I'm a part of you and can feel what you're feeling." He looked up at her. "I wonder why you can sense me now, too."

"Well, I have a theory…"

"It's probably a natural evolution, right? That would make sense," he mumbled, no longer paying attention to her. "Or maybe our powers are increasing and that's assisting this link, or whatever it is."

Usagi watched him try to come up with every reasonable explanation in the book. Her theory wasn't nearly as rational. She didn't think it was a coincidence that this happened just a little while after they'd almost kissed. Something had happened that day in the arcade. He'd opened up and they'd connected in a way they never had before.

She watched him pace in front of her, his mouth still forming theories, but she wasn't listening to them anymore. They involved power surges and metabolic what-nots. Deep inside she knew the truth. She knew that this had happened not for any scientific reason, but because they had become emotionally closer.

"I like you," she blurted succinctly. She didn't know why she said it. This definitely wasn't what she'd planned when she first pulled him into the alley.

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her with wide eyes. "Excuse me?"

Usagi breathed deep for courage. "I like you and I think you might like me too and I think that's why this happened." She took a hesitant step closer and, when he didn't step back, took another. "I think we're growing closer and our link is responding to that."

She was only a few inches in front of him now. He hadn't moved at all, a stunned look frozen on his face. 'This is it,' she thought to herself. After weeks of trying to hold back because of the princess, she was going to throw caution to the wind.

It was time she fought for her man.

With a quick burst of spontaneous bravery, she stood up on tiptoes and kissed him.

For a brief moment she thought she had him. Then she felt his hands clasp her upper arms and she was being shoved away. She tried to catch her breath, but it was hard when his eyes were burning holes into her.

"What are you _doing_?" he demanded in an unsteady voice.

She flinched back from him. This was definitely not the reaction she'd hoped for. Not after her first kiss. "I thought that was pretty obvious," she snarked with a lot more confidence than she had.

"I'm with Belle. You _know_ that," he hissed sternly.

Her spine stiffened. Well, she said she was going to fight for her man… seemed like she'd actually have to fight. "And how's that going, Mamoru? Have you both gotten over the fact that you barely know each other yet?"

"That's none of your business!" he bit back.

"Yes it is! It is my business when it means that you're ignoring what we have." She attempted to approach him, but he balked backwards.

Mamoru looked at her stubbornly. "We're friends, Usagi, isn't that enough?"

It almost sounded like he was pleading with her. Begging her not to go down this path. Well, too bad, she wasn't going to stand on the sidelines anymore. "No, it's not." With a deep breath, she steeled herself for what she was about to say next, "I think I'm falling in love with you, Mamoru."

Several emotions flickered across his face at her admission. He seemed too stunned to speak for a minute, then stuttered, "You-you can't…"

"Yes I can." Her voice was strong despite the butterflies fluttering like mad in her stomach. "I _do_, Mamoru," she said more earnestly. "And I think that's why our bond is growing stronger."

He held out a hand when it looked like Usagi was going to step closer to him again. Then, carefully and with an overwhelmed expression on his face, he turned his back to her. He needed to catch his breath and staring into her hopeful blue eyes wasn't helping that. He pressed one arm against the brick wall at his side in an effort to ground himself. The world was spinning all of a sudden and he couldn't seem to find his center.

Usagi was in love with him? The thought filled him with a level of warmth and understanding that he'd never experienced before. To have someone care so much for him, after a life of neglect and loneliness, was a balm on his soul. It was a possibility that had only recently entered his mind as their friendship grew.

But then Belle, the princess, had arrived and his illusions were shattered. Suddenly he was faced with a choice he never thought he'd have to make between the image that had haunted his dreams since he was a child and the slip of a girl that taunted him during his waking hours.

The woman of his dreams or the love of his life?

But how could he not choose his princess? The woman that called out to him every night for help. The woman who drove him to fight the Negaverse and find the crystal that would save her. It had been her image that sustained him through growing up alone in an orphanage. It had been her that had given him a reason to strive for more and become someone successful, someone worthy of a princess.

His entire life had been shaped by the dream of her.

So, while he may have found a kindred spirit in Usagi, he knew that he was destined for his princess. Was he not her long-lost knight in shining armor? They had been in love a millennium ago and, when their story was cut short, fate ensured that their souls would be reincarnated together.

He was Prince Endymion and she was Princess Illesande.

They were a matching pair.

He turned back to Usagi with a heavy heart. Mere seconds had passed while he'd been mulling things over and she still had a fiery glint of determination in her eye. "Odango…" he began solemnly. "I'm sorry."

Dread quickly overtook determination and Usagi clenched her fist in a last show of strength. "Mamoru, _please_. I know there's something there." She pounded the spot over her heart. "I know this link can't exist if you don't feel anything for me."

He laid a consoling hand on her shoulder. "Friendship. Camaraderie. You will always be one of my closest friends."

She wrenched out of his hold. "Why are you doing this?" she screamed in frustration.

"She's the princess, Usagi. You know what that means to me."

When she looked up at him, she could see his mask firmly in place. He had once again barricaded his emotions behind a wall of stoicism. Frustrated tears pricked her eyes. "Of course I do! It means just as much to me that we've found her."

"Then stop this!" he yelled back. He wasn't angry, she could tell. He wasn't sad either. He was irritated with her for forcing him to confront something he had wanted to keep hidden.

Usagi dropped her head, no longer able to look into his eyes. "You're making a mistake."

"It is my mistake to make."

"Fine," she sighed in defeat. It was too hard. He was being irrational, hiding behind destiny, and there was no way she could win against that. She had literally thrown herself at him and it hadn't been enough.

At least she had tried. She had laid everything out on the table and forced him to see what was right in front of him. She had fought for her feelings, for them… but it wasn't enough. It was really no one's fault but her own.

She spun sharply on her heel and headed back out to the street. "I won't stand in your way." The words trailed after her.

Mamoru stared after her sadly. This was not what he wanted. Hurting Usagi, having to reject her like that… it was something he had hoped to avoid. He rubbed his tired eyes and slowly made his way toward the arcade.

He wasn't blind. He knew things had been stirring between him and the Odango. He had admitted to himself that he was conflicted about how he felt for her and Belle.

Before the princess was a blip on their radar, he could sense that both himself as Tuxedo Mask and as Mamoru were growing closer to Sailor Moon and Usagi. Even though at the time he thought they were two different people, a part of him recognized that the feelings that emerged when he fought side-by-side with Moon were identical to the feelings he had when bickering with Odango.

And damned if there hadn't been something deep inside his psyche that dared to hope that she would turn out to be the princess as well.

But she hadn't.

Mamoru glanced up when Motoki called out a greeting. He nodded in return and moved to sit dejectedly on his stool. As his friend went to brew a fresh pot of coffee, he turned slowly around and stared blankly at the empty booth he once shared with Usagi.

* * *

_So, I re-worked the fight between Usagi & Mamoru. The original version made Mamoru too cruel and that wasn't my intention. Yes, he rejects her, but he doesn't do it maliciously. Let me know what you think of the change. _


	8. Chapter 7

**So Hard to Find **by Sereko

Whew, life sure does take a lot of turns. And mine has finally turned me back towards writing. I know I promised several people that this chapter would be out ages ago… and I'm sorry that I took so much longer than that!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I changed the fight between Usagi and Mamoru at the end of the last chapter quite a bit. I discovered that part of the reason why I had writer's block for so long was because I wasn't happy with how I'd written that scene. Please go back and re-read the end of Chapter 6!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, but Belle is very much my own creation.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**

* * *

**

It was Friday night and they were lying on the couch together, watching a movie and eating popcorn. Mamoru had warmed up considerably to Belle after she had successfully implemented all of Usagi's rules. Part of her was jealous that the blonde knew her prince so well and had spent so much time building a friendship with him. Then again, despite how close the two were, he was still Belle's destined lover and was more than willing to abide by what the fates had decreed. She cuddled a little closer to his lithe form and raised her head to look up at him.

He was sleeping. He looked so content with his hair falling into his eyes and his lips slightly parted to let heavy, even breaths through. Most of the time when he was awake, he had a haunted look about him. Always more than one thing going on behind the blue of his eyes. But at times like these, when he was dead to the world, he could finally let the sadness of his past and the difficulties of his present fade away. Belle leaned up to lay a chaste kiss where his jaw met his neck. He seemed to move into her touch and she waited eagerly for him to rouse from his dozing and kiss her for real.

Instead, he groaned in pain. His whole body stiffened on the couch before he abruptly woke up.

Mamoru's head was throbbing and he brought a hand to his temple to soothe it. He knew what this meant. He knew all too well what this meant. With a quick glance to the side, he saw Belle looking at him worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," he said while standing up. She didn't seem to believe him as she followed him off the couch and began to reach for his pounding head. The pain was migrating through the rest of his body. He knew if he didn't transform soon that he would be on the floor from the agony of emotions that Sailor Moon was sending him.

Belle reached out for him again. She didn't understand what was happening. One minute she was enjoying a wonderfully peaceful night with her boyfriend, and the next he was pulling away from her in pain. How had he so quickly gone from contentment to distress? And why wouldn't he let her help him?

"It's Sailor Moon," he explained. He only just realized that this was the first time that Belle had been present when he was called to transform. Before this, she had always seen him after the fact. A sharp tug of emotion suddenly pulled at him. He was taking too long.

He glanced down at his girlfriend and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. He had never before had to worry about disappointing anyone when Sailor Moon came to call. He had never imagined that there would be another woman in his life to compete with his link to the leader of the senshi. "She's in trouble. I need to get to her and help the senshi fight."

Belle opened her mouth to protest. Sailor Moon was calling him? She immediately remembered how the frantic girl had come to Makoto's one night because Mamoru was "in trouble." She hadn't thought much about it at the time because she had finally had the chance to bond with her long-lost love….but now, she realized that Usagi had sensed her protector and that was how she knew that he was in such a state of depression. It wasn't because of a phone call as the girl had said the next day. The Moon senshi had been frenzied with worry, rushing Belle so that they could get to Mamoru quickly. It was as if the pain of his emotion was too much to endure for long.

And now the same thing was happening in reverse. Mamoru was as connected to Usagi as she was to him. Tonight, it was her calling him for aid. Belle looked deeply into the prince's eyes once more. They were clouded, almost all rational thought gone from them. She could see the swirl of panic and the need to move, to go, to be with Sailor Moon that very instant. She sighed and bobbed her head.

For whatever reason, Mamoru had been waiting for her permission. Once she nodded, he immediately transformed and fled his apartment via the balcony.

Belle watched her love leave her for another woman. One who had an inexplicable emotional tie to the man that was supposed to be hers for all eternity. Why would the gods have decided to link Mamoru and Usagi when it was clear that Mamoru was Belle's soulmate?

* * *

"Where's Belle?" Moon asked when he arrived at the scene. She kept her eyes on the youma while she waited for his answer. It was a speedy one tonight. The damn thing hadn't stood still since it blipped into existence. She had been doing her best to dodge the acid it was spewing, but some had snagged her leg a few minutes ago.

Tuxedo Kamen was also surveying the scene, trying to devise a strategy. "I left her at my apartment." He didn't see the sideways glance she shot him. It was one thing to know the two were dating and doing couply things like watching movies together, but it was another thing entirely for Moon to imagine Belle snuggling up to him on his own couch.

She sighed. "So we won't know if it's carrying a crystal," she bit out annoyed.

Her companion furrowed his brow at her attitude. "I'm sorry if my first instinct wasn't to pick up the princess and carry her into danger," he hissed back. They jumped away from each other for a moment to avoid an acid blast. He threw a trail of roses to try and nab the youma, but it deftly jumped out of range of his barrage. "How far away are the others?" he questioned, forgetting his momentary anger and slipping into fight-mode.

"Five minutes," Moon responded as she quickly tucked behind a tree. She flinched when she heard the bark sizzle from a blast of acid. She didn't know if she could hold out until the other senshi arrived. She needed their attacks to wear the beast down enough so that she could dust it without becoming a puddle of ooze… or did she?

She looked to her left and saw Kamen let loose a smoke bomb to cover his next rose attack. "I've got an idea," she shouted. He immediately changed his course and ran up beside her.

"What?" he panted.

"I think I can alter my tiara attack to give that thing a run for its money. Can you give me some cover fire while I power up?"

He nodded and immediately left to engage the youma with his cane. While he was busy with that, Moon closed her eyes and sank into herself. She held her tiara tightly in one gloved hand and focused. Her power level was hovering around the halfway mark, so she figured she'd be able to toss about four energy discs before it ran dry.

She concentrated and could feel a white hot power start to fill her. The same power that had answered her call when battling Hydra. She siphoned it from her core to the tips of her fingers and then let it flow into her tiara. When her original tiara was filled to the brim, she could sense another forming itself to the side. And then another, and another.

Her toes started to tingle and there was a prickly sensation in her calves. Just when she thought her knees were going to give out on her, the fourth tiara finished forming itself. Her eyes shot open. They burned a searing silver before she turned and leapt into battle.

She was just in time, it seemed, because Tuxedo Kamen was losing his one-on-one with the youma and about to be doused in a flood of acid. She didn't waste a moment firing off her multiple tiaras, sending them on different paths so that hopefully if the youma dodged one it would still be hit by the others.

As she watched them get closer, she willed Kamen to duck. She didn't want to call out a warning because she didn't want to give the youma a heads-up. Luckily for her, their bond was as strong as ever and he immediately looked in her direction. Their eyes locked for a brief second before he dove to the ground. One of her tiaras skimmed the top of his hat on its way to the youma.

The mangled creature was able to avoid two of the high-powered discs, but was hit solidly by the other two. Moon huffed and leaned back against a tree, watching as the youma writhed on the ground trying to find its footing.

Well, that was stupid, she thought to herself. She had hoped that would be enough to dust it. Now she was too weak to use her wand to finish it off. Just as she was trying to formulate another plan, she saw a slash of red and orange.

The cavalry had arrived. She let out a relieved sigh.

Fortunately for her, Mars and Venus' attacks were strong enough to dust the youma without the additional use of her wand. It was rare when that happened, but it reassured her that this youma was definitely not a crystal carrier.

* * *

Zoicite used the side entrance, doing his best to avoid Beryl. She was giving him a few chances to try out some new techniques before she brought him forward and asked for results. It was very uncharacteristic of her to be so patient, so he was doing his best not to broadcast his failures in front of her face.

He slipped into the quarters he shared with Kunzite and immediately noticed that the other general wasn't there.

With dragging steps, he began unbuttoning his jacket as he walked over to their closet. He winced a little when he slipped the jacket off his shoulders. There'd been a kink in his neck all day that just wouldn't leave him alone. He let the article fall to the floor instead of bothering to hang it up.

Zoicite closed his eyes, sighed, and then began unfastening his slacks. There was a pair of silk lounge pants with his name on them. And also maybe a glass of burgundy wine.

He jerked when he felt a cold touch to the back of his neck. His eyes popped open and he turned slightly to see Kunzite standing directly behind him. "Gods, you scared me half to death!"

"Sorry," the white-haired general murmured before splaying his hands across his lover's shoulders and massaging the taut muscles there. Zoicite reached up to pat one of his hands in forgiveness, and then relaxed beneath his touch. "How did it go?" he asked softly.

The muscles Kunzite was kneading bunched for a brief moment. "Not well. I was merely trying to collect some energy, as Metallia is running low, and even that failed. Venna barely sucked three people dry before Sailor Moon showed up." Zoicite sighed and shrugged away from the taller man. He finished removing his pants and slipped on his sleepwear.

With casual familiarity, Zoicite snagged the fingers of one of Kunzite's hands and led him to the center of their bed. "I'll need at least five times that if I'm to create the kind of battle required to extract a rainbow crystal." He sank gratefully into the mattress beneath him, taking a moment to splay his arms and legs out across its surface before curling into his lover's side.

Kunzite bent over him slightly, always protective. "I think you need a new strategy." He leaned down to nibble at the side of Zoicite's neck.

"Hey, I'll take any advice you're willing to give." The younger man sucked in a quick breath when Kunzite found the sweet spot behind his ear.

"Mmm." Several soft kisses were placed along his jaw and then he felt Kunzite shift his weight so that he was leaning over him more fully. "I think you need to stay and fight in the next battle."

The strawberry blonde general raised an eyebrow in curiosity, then let his eyes slip sleepily shut. "Interesting."

Kunzite ran a hand slowly down the exposed chest beneath him. His lover had the softest skin imaginable… "Stay. Fight. Support the youma by cutting in when the senshi are about to finish it off. You'll add firepower that they are too weak to handle right now."

Zoicite's heart rate started to increase in time with the brushes of the other man's fingers. He reached out to play with the long, silvery strands of hair that were dangling dangerously close to his flesh. "That could work," he bit out between clenched teeth. "My attacks might throw them off-guard enough that the youma can actually do its job."

"Precisely." Kunzite leaned in and captured the retort that was about to escape Zoicite's lips. "Enough shop talk," he finished definitively. Then he leaned down again for a deeper kiss.

"Unnn," was the younger general's only response.

* * *

It was just another average day at Cherry Hill Temple. The sun was peaking through a bank of clouds and the air was still. It felt like the calm before a storm.

The senshi were in the middle of a meeting, this one centered around the differing stats that Ami was picking up from crystal-carrying youma vs. everyday run-of-the-mill youma. Luna and Artemis had just gotten them up to speed on how they should adjust their strategies in battle accordingly and now the girls were starting to split up into pairs to gossip about the more normal aspects of their lives.

Usagi began talking to Ami about the pop quiz they'd been surprised with in Math class earlier that day. She wasn't very good at Math and Science (or English and History, for that matter) and was pretty sure she had failed the test miserably – despite the fact that she was finally paying attention in class and doing her homework every night.

"It was unfair of Haruna-sensei to give us that test. At least one of the questions was from a chapter we haven't studied yet," Ami spoke up perturbed.

Usagi sighed. "I bet you knew it anyway. Aren't you like 7 chapters ahead?"

Ami blushed. "10," she corrected sheepishly.

"Hah!" Usagi let out a bark of laughter. She grinned sardonically at her friend.

"But," Ami continued, undeterred. "Haruna-sensei only gave us the pop quiz because she had a bad blind date last night. That isn't right."

"It's never right. She always takes her personal problems out on us." Usagi was about to change the subject to the cute brown-haired boy she's seen Ami walking to juku with when she heard her name from across the room. She turned her head to see Belle and Mamoru in what looked like a serious discussion. She strained to hear what they were saying.

"It's like the two of you are connected somehow," she heard Belle complain.

"What are you talking about?" Mamoru's tone was dismissive, which Usagi knew wasn't going to bode well for him. The princess didn't like to be dismissed.

Belle glared petulantly up at him. "You felt her last night… she called to you, whatever. And before that, she had known when you were mourning your parents-"

"I told you, I had called her on the phone," he interrupted, slightly panicked. The last thing he needed right now was Belle feeling jealous for a bond he didn't understand and couldn't control.

"Don't lie to me! I'm not stupid."

By this time, Belle's voice had risen high enough that the other senshi took notice and stopped what they were talking about to pay attention to their liege. Mamoru became aware of the sudden silence and looked up to see the other girls, and cats, watching him. He quickly tried to shush Belle to stave off further embarrassment. That only served to inflame the younger girl's temper even more.

"I want to know why you and Usagi are connected when you're supposed to be _my_ fiancé!" She was standing up now, not caring about their audience. She looked down at the ground and continued somberly, "You're supposed to be in love with me."

Mamoru immediately stood up and stepped closer to the girl. He cautiously reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off quickly in annoyance, but he persisted. "I _am_ in love with you."

When Belle gazed up at him in wonder, he realized suddenly that that was the first time he'd admitted such a thing to her.

It had been so obvious to him that he had apparently never said it out loud. She was the princess, his princess, who had led him through the isolation of his childhood. Of course he would love her. It was automatic. But Belle didn't know any of that. She didn't understand how much the princess of his dreams had affected his life. It was stupid of him to have assumed.

Mamoru turned his girlfriend's face to his with gentle pressure on her chin and whispered, "I love you."

He saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, but didn't turn to see who it was. He didn't have to. There was a pain not his own deep inside and he knew instantly who had just fled the room.

Mamoru closed his eyes, severing the connection he'd been forming with Belle. He knew that it was important to foster his relationship with the silvery-haired girl, but he couldn't risk her seeing the look of regret in his eyes.

* * *

Usagi turned her head away the second he uttered the words. She wished that she could ignore the way her heart wrenched painfully…but she doubted that hearing the man you love profess love to another was something that could be ignored. Her eyes burned and, against her will, silent tears fell down her cheeks. She quickly slipped out of the temple door to get away from it all.

The cool breeze outside helped to stave off more tears and she clung desperately to anger to stop the sob building in her chest. 'That bastard!' she screamed to herself. 'How dare he say that to her right in front of me! After what I did… what I said to him. What an insensitive, pompous jerk!'

The anger carried her a few more feet forward before crushing grief caught up with her. She paused in the middle of the temple grounds and looked around lost for a second before spotting a group of cherry trees that she could hide within.

By the time she reached her destination, she was ashamed to feel sobs starting to wrack her body. They were strong enough to shake her limbs and make it difficult to breathe. She collapsed ungracefully in the shadow of one of the trees, staining her knees with dirt and catching a few pebbles in the fleshy part of her palms.

As she let out the first stuttering moans of pain, she felt two slender arms wrap around her. Not caring who it was – she was barely able to think coherently as she gave her body over to anguish – Usagi latched on frantically. Her body shuddered violently with her sobs and she choked on her own cries.

"Shh, shh," was whispered tenderly in her ear.

"Make it stop," Usagi begged brokenly.

"I with I could, Usagi-chan. More than anything." She recognized Minako's voice immediately. Usagi would've taken comfort from any of her friends, but part of her was grateful to have the senshi of love be the one to come to her aid. She let her fellow blonde rock her back and forth, clinging maybe a little too desperately to the strength of the girl's arms.

* * *

A while later, her sobs had subsided and Usagi leaned against the trunk of one of the trees exhausted. She stared blindly at the ground and played absently with a few fallen cherry blossoms.

Minako thought about what she could possibly say to diminish the grief that confronted her in Usagi's eyes. She laid a comforting hand on the other blonde's stiff shoulder. "I'm sorry, Usagi-chan," she began.

"Don't," Usagi quickly interrupted. "Please don't, Mina." She turned her sad eyes on her friend imploringly.

"I wish I knew what it was like," Minako continued with a lighter voice to change the topic. Her friend looked at her questioningly. "The bond…link…connection, whatever you want to call it. How cool would it be to have someone know the second you were in trouble so he could swoop in and protect you anytime you needed him?" She gushed as if she were a mindless teenager, which she faintly remembered being before Belle had entered their lives. She knew she was taking a risk by bringing Mamoru up so soon, but her ex-leader needed to talk it out… whether she realized it or not.

Instead of shutting down as Minako had almost expected, Usagi's expression became slightly wistful. "It's amazing, really," she said softly. She took a minute to collect her thoughts and try and distance herself from the deeper implications of what she was about to admit to her friend. "I know the instant that he's answered my call. I can feel him coming closer to me, needing to help me as if I were all that mattered."

"How do you call him?" Minako asked with real curiosity, dropping all pretenses.

Usagi looked a little puzzled at first. "I don't know, really. In the beginning I didn't even know I was doing it, he would just show up and save me. But a few months before the princess found us, I started to notice the link. I could feel my soul reaching out when I was in trouble." The senshi of love started at the mention of Usagi's soul, but the other girl didn't seem to notice.

"Somehow I knew that I was connected to him," she straightened up as if reliving the experience. Her mind was taking a field trip back in time, remembering what things were like before it all got too real and too complicated. "Like telepathy or something. I felt him sort of awaken when I was scared, and I could also feel him respond. He would always try to make me feel safe and secure." Her faced showed a longing to feel that way again. "Then I could feel him drawing closer to me – the link guiding him, I think – and the next thing I knew he'd be sweeping me into his arms away from whatever thing was trying to kill me that day."

"Sounds like a knight in shining armor to me!" Minako declared optimistically.

But Usagi didn't smile. She had come down off of her high and began to brood again. "For some reason, once Belle arrived, Mamoru could do the call in reverse. Our link had strengthened or something and it was more than it ever was. I could feel more than just whatever emotion was on the surface…it was like I knew everything about him, everything that was inside of him. And he knew just as much about me." She paused and locked eyes with her friend. "I've never felt so close to anyone in my entire life."

"That bond is still there, Usagi-chan," Minako said earnestly. She didn't know why she was being so insistent. It would only hurt Usagi more if she got her hopes up, but the love goddess in her wouldn't let her give up without a fight.

"No, Minako. He loves Belle… he's supposed to," she admitted bitterly. "Now that she knows, he'll put up as many walls as he can to weaken our connection. I don't know if he can break it completely, but he can make it fade." She sulked and looked through the trees to the dark storm clouds on the horizon. They looked menacing, but still far enough away to not pose an immediate threat.

"Are you sure?" Minako watched with her as more soft petals feel from the trees above them.

With a depressed tone of voice, Usagi answered, "The link only strengthened because we wanted it to. He can let it thin until only a little thread is left. And when that happens…"

Minako waited for her to finish her sentence, but she never did. The once confident leader of the Sailor Senshi had retreated back into her own mind where far too many demons awaited her.

The rest of the senshi had no idea what their best friend was going through. They ignorantly believed that Usagi just had a little crush on Tuxedo Kamen. But Minako knew the truth. Usagi had fallen in love with the masked man as well as his alter ego. What's more – Mamoru had fallen just as much in love with her. Minako could sense their true feelings anytime they were in a room together. While she knew how hard it was for Usagi to give up her hero for her princess, she also knew that it was equally as hard for Mamoru to ignore his feelings for his Odango Atama. They were battling against their very souls in order to please their princess and obey destiny.

If there hadn't also been a link between Mamoru and Belle, Minako would've been convinced that the prince and princess weren't meant to be. But there _was_ love between them, and unfortunately her loyalty to the princess trumped her loyalty as a friend to Usagi. If one link had to be cut, it regrettably had to be the one tied to her twin. Or so Mamoru had decided, anyway.

* * *

It was several days later when Mamoru finally crossed paths with Usagi again. He had given her space after their last senshi meeting, not only to let Belle's jealousy wane but also to give Odango some time alone with her thoughts.

He hadn't purposefully said that he loved Belle in front of her. He hadn't really meant to say it at all, especially not in public. He was anything but an exhibitionist… or a totally malicious jackass. It was one of the stupidest things he'd done in recent history and that was saying something. He didn't pretend to misinterpret the glares that Minako had been firing at him lately. The way he had treated Usagi that day, and that day in the alley, was pretty appalling. He knew it and he hated himself for it.

There was no way for him to have a relationship with Belle and not hurt Usagi. But he was determined to make things better between them. Which is why he purposefully sought her out after her classes one day.

"Usagi," he called out when he saw her walk down the sidewalk, lifting his hand as if he expected her to answer his beckoning. He saw her flinch and spin around to walk back in the opposite direction. He ran to catch up to her. "Usagi!" he called again.

This time she stopped, but didn't turn towards him. "What do you want?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm sor-"

She cut him off before he could finish the apology. "Don't you dare."

Mamoru grimaced. "I deserve that." He looked down at the cement below his feet and ran an anxious hand through his hair. The fact that she hadn't continued to walk away from him gave him a modicum of hope that he could finish what he'd set out to do.

"I don't expect you to forgive me, Usagi. I've been a jerk to you… more than a jerk." He ran a hand through his hair again, this time looking at her tense back. "But I am truly sorry for my treatment of you. I'm sorry and I'll say it everyday until we can be friends again."

This time she did turn around. Her brow was furrowed in astonishment. "What makes you think we can be?"

He bit his lip, knowing she had every right to walk away and never speak to him again. "I know it'll be hard. It will take a lot of work. But we used to trust each other implicitly and I think we can again, Odango," the affection rolled off his tongue unbidden. "I don't want to lose our friendship."

"It doesn't work that way, Mamoru." Her voice was cold, harder than he'd ever heard it and devoid of all its usual cheer. How had he brought her to this? "We can't pretend that nothing happened and go back to mornings at Motoki's. You can't have everything. You can't have her _and_ me."

She studied him for a few minutes. His blue eyes were earnest, almost pleading. His fists were clenched and his jaw tight. He was expecting her rejection. He knew he was asking too much, but he was asking for it anyway. 'Was it worth it?' she asked herself. Part of her still ached for any crumb he was willing to throw her way, but another part was too proud to be so easily swayed.

"It's too soon," she finally said. And it was too soon, her heart was still in pieces.

Mamoru opened his mouth as if he was going to argue with her, but then he thought better of it and just nodded. "Okay." He watched as she turned back around and walked away.

* * *

…_and another sad ending. I'll have to try to pep the next chapter up a bit so that you all don't think that I'm out to depress you! Ack! I can't promise that there won't be angst in the future (I love me some good angst), but we _are_ about to enter a much more action-packed arc in the story. Stay tuned! _


End file.
